


Panem et Circenses

by VoidDragonQueen



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Has A Palace, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Author is trans, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Dont copy to another site, Gender Dysphoria, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Spoilers, Strangulation, Suicide Idealization, Swearing, Trans Character, body image issues, emotions are messy, fight scenes that are cool in concept but would be a nightmare to play are my specialty, heavily implied transphobia, implied borderline eating disorder, let him recover god damn, trans!Akira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2020-07-11 17:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19932145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidDragonQueen/pseuds/VoidDragonQueen
Summary: Their plan to fool the Conspiracy worked. But now that Akira is a dead man walking, it's really only a matter of time before he's seen alive. They quickly regroup to make a plan, but that plan soon goes off the rails at a sudden revelation about the detective.





	1. Nerves and Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers from after Sae's Palace onwards! Hey ho, enjoy more of my bullshit. 
> 
> Inspired by Ode Imaginations's Akechi Palace Theme: https://youtu.be/meaQArEzJxs

They had all come to check on him of course. Akira was absolutely grateful for that. He is grateful for many things, but this especially.

“God kid, you look awful.” Sojiro half teased, already in the process of making him a hot chocolate.

Akira grinned, trying to keep himself from laughing because everything hurt. The officers were not kind to him, doubly so after getting access to his files. Speaking of, he was so out of it he almost forgot the unbearable squeezing on his hurt ribs this entire time. He fumbled for the zipper under his shirt, trying not to break it in his desperation to get it off of him. He belatedly realized he needed to be shirtless in order to complete his task, getting immediately upset. He ran to the bathroom, shutting himself in.

“Shit, Akira?!” Ryuji called after him, wiggling the locked handle.

He dropped his shirt on the floor, hissing in pain as some skin came off with it. He had to peel off his binder, shaking uncontrollably. It was soaked in blood and ruined. 

“Fuck…” He muttered, sliding down onto the floor.

_This was my only one._

He couldn’t exactly order another one without Sojiro seeing it. 

“Akira are you okay?” His best friend asked, concerned.

He swallowed thickly. He can’t stay like this. His wounds would get infected. He put the shirt back on, wrapping his destroyed binder in his jacket. He stepped out, Ryuji backing up for a moment in shock. He moved to wipe away his tears, Akira leaning into the touch.

“Shit dude. Are you okay?”

“Everything hurts.” He said, only half-lying. 

“Here, why don’t we wash th-” 

Ann got up and reached for the bundle of clothes, Akira immediately hugging them to his chest, hissing as he pressed onto his bruises. 

“I’ll do it later.” He mumbled.

He could see their concern, but he wasn’t exactly out to them yet. Only Morgana, but he made Morgana promise not to say anything. And Takemi in a way, because she had to know he was wearing one in case he had issues with it. He was numb as Sojiro guided him to a chair and slid the hot chocolate in front of him. The clothes he dropped into his lap, leaning protectively over them as he wrapped his hands around the mug. 

“What the eff did they do to you?!”

“Ryuji.” Sae said sternly, making Ryuji wince.

He couldn’t stop shaking. 

“Maybe we should come back tomorrow.” Makoto gently suggested. 

Akira nodded. He took a sip, just to see if he could keep anything down. He suddenly lost his appetite for the hot chocolate he asked for. 

“See you tomorrow, then.” Yusuke said, getting up.

That prompted everyone else to get moving, wishing him well. Sae quietly offered a ride to some of them, but they all politely declined and went on their way. Soon it was just him, Sojiro and Morgana left, stewing in silence. Sojiro carefully cleaned up everything, putting it all away. 

“I’ll call you out for the time being. Say you had to go home for family business. Make sure you lock up after I’m gone.” 

Akira nodded, his throat feeling restricted. Morgana checked over him in concern, making sure not to touch him. He watched as Sojiro started towards the door, flipping the sign closed.

“Sojiro.” 

He stopped, looking at Akira. He could see how serious he was, sitting down across from him. Akira slowly unwrapped the jacket and held it up so he could see the ruined binder. Sojiro seemed to recognize what it was, putting a hand to his chin and closing his eyes, leaning back with a frown. Akira felt some tears run down his face, panic rising in his chest. Sojiro opened his eyes again and looked it over, prodding at it.

“That certainly looks like it’s beyond salvaging.”

“Uh huh.” Akira squeaked out.

“I can’t let you wear that anymore. I doubt it would last much longer like this.”

Akira stared at him blankly. He wasn’t sure he heard that right.

“I can put something in for you with an order I have upcoming. I haven’t placed it yet, but I can make sure it gets here fast once I have.”

“Yeah. That’d be great.”

Sojiro placed a notepad and a pen down in front of him, a list of coffee bean orders on it. Akira stared at it for a moment before he quickly wrote down what he needed. Sojiro took it back, getting up. 

“Just be careful when you go out for the next few days, alright? I want you to be safe.”

“Okay?” He said dumbly.

Sojiro closed the door behind him, the lock clicking in place. Akira wrapped up the binder in his jacket again, going upstairs. Morgana was right at his heels, jumping up on desk next to his bed.

“He took that better than my parents did.” Akira said in awe. 

“Considering you were only just able to take it off now, I think our first order of business tomorrow is seeing Takemi.”

“Yeah, definitely, my ribs hurt like hell.” 

Finding a sleeping position that was the least painful for him was a long process, tossing and turning until he found it. And then, he couldn’t sleep. His doubts bubbled up in his mind as he drifted, pestering him awake.

_They had to have noticed, right? How could they not have? Did Sae look at my records or did she just walk in not knowing? My chest isn’t exactly small. But they’re my closest friends, they’d understand._

Then he remembered back home when he had one close friend, the other outcast. At least, until he came out. Then he was abandoned so swiftly, there were even rumors about him. Outcast by the other outcast. Too weird for even the weird kid. The memory gnawed at his heart, making him double-guess how close he really was to the others. 

_Would they abandon me t-?_

_“They won’t.”_

Arsene’s smooth voice interrupted his negative spiral, jerking his head back a bit. He took a few shallow breaths. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know why Arsene was so sure either.

_“Come, then. Let’s talk about this, my darling thief.”_

He closed his eyes, exhaustion finally overtaking him.

He opened his eyes again, in a familiar place, feeling warm. He sat up, noticing he was on a red velvet fainting couch with a black edge to it. He looked up to see Arsene sitting in the leather armchair next to him, his face dimmed in concern. The fireplace nearby flickered softly, the fire low. Akira patted the spot next to him, Arsene moving to sit there. Akira crawled into his lap, Arsene slowly wrapping his arms and wings around him. Akira let out a sob, slapping a hand over his mouth.

“It’s okay, Akira. You’re safe here.”

“What if they reject me, Arsene? After I tell them?”

“Why would they do that now, dear?”

“I don’t know. It’s… happened before. I don’t want to lose my friends.”

He felt Arsene gently caress his face, wiping away tears.

“You trust them with your life, and you theirs. They confide in you, fully, their fears, their dreams, their emotions. Why can you not confide in them the same way?”

“In the Metaverse I am who I really am. But the real world I have to come back to reality." Akira gingerly touches his chest, swallowing. “I’m… I’m scared they won’t understand.”

“This is part of you, no matter where you go. Here and in the real world, even if you need something to help you in one world. It’s natural to be scared about being honest. Yet, I know my friends, and they would not abandon you for being yourself. I’m confident your friends wouldn't either, because my friends are part of them. Even if they don’t understand right away, they’ll try for you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know.” Arsene’s voice softened. “I know they love you the way you are. This won’t change their minds.”

Akira looks down at his fingers, frowning. He moves to hug Arsene tightly, curling in on himself. Arsene returns the embrace, feathers brushing over his skin.

“Okay. I’ll try. I’ll… I’ll tell them.”

“Good.” Arsene murmured, kissing his forehead. “Now get some rest. I’ll be here, watching over you.”

Akira shifted, feeling lighter. He leaned his head against Arsene’s chest, Arsene shifting in response to make him more comfortable. Safe and warm, feathers soft against his skin, he fell asleep again.

“Oh, my little guinea pig, what have you gotten yourself into?”

Takemi’s joke fell flat, her voice deeply concerned. She was rooting around for things in her drawers, seeing how badly Akira was hurt.

“I need you to check me over. I don’t know if my binder caused more damage. They… I couldn’t take it off.” 

“I need to see the extent of the damage. You need to take off your shirt.”

Akira did so slowly, dropping it beside him. Takemi pressed her lips together in a thin line as she saw all the bruises, cuts and the imprint the binder left on him. She turned back around, grabbing a bottle of antibiotic.

“Alright, first things first, we gotta clean those cuts better. This is gonna sting.”

Akira hissed through gritted teeth as she went about cleaning his wounds. Once she was done, she pulled back, pressing a stethoscope to his back. 

“Breathe deeply for me.”

Akira winced in pain as he did so, exhaling slowly afterwards. She pulled back, writing something down.

“Definitely bruised. That’s gonna take some weeks to heal. You should keep an ice pack on your ribs once a day for the first few days, make sure to keep moving and breathing deeply so you don’t get an infection. Also, this should be obvious, but you shouldn’t wear your binder for the next six weeks.”

“Six weeks?”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, but we can’t have something constantly squeezing your ribs while they’re trying to heal. Better safe than sorry.”

“Okay… thanks.”

“Take something like ibuprofen regularly while you’re at it. It will help.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

Akira gave her a little wave on his way out, flipping up his hood. Now he had to wait for his friends to show up. He slipped upstairs, not catching the attention of the one customer in the cafe. He sat down on the couch, anxious for their arrival.

They all filtered in one by one, Akira more nervous as they settled in. Ann plopped a bunch of snacks onto the center table, and everyone picked out what they wanted. Akira finally dropped the hood back, putting his phone on the table in front of him. After everyone settled down with their chosen snacks and drinks, they quieted down as Makoto cleared her throat.

“So, I think we need to figure out what we’re going to do from here. If that’s okay with you, Akira?”

Akira opened his mouth, closed it, bit his lip. Arsene moved, reaching out to make sure he knew he wasn’t alone. Akira exhaled slowly, straightening up a little.

“Actually, I’d like to talk about something else first.” He started, biting his lip again when they all turned to look at him. 

_Oh god, how do I say this?_

“I’m… I’m trans. I…” He gulped, panic creeping back into his chest. “I… don’t know how much worse my injuries would’ve gotten because I couldn’t take off my binder, and… well… had to, had to take it off immediately but I didn’t want any of you to see me without it.”

The group shifted, Akira wincing and looking down at the table.

“You know that’s super unhealthy to running around with one of those on-” Makoto started scolding.

“I know! I just… I never feel it in the Metaverse. Like it just disappears when I’m down there. I kinda forgot I had it on until I got dragged away.”

The others wince at the mention of his ordeal.

“Were you able to wash your clothes last night?”

Akira shook his head.

“It… my binder got ruined. I can’t wear it anyway, they bruised my ribs pretty badly.”

“Those bastards.” Ryuji growled. 

“Ryuji, quiet do-” Ann started.

“Them and that shithead Akechi Goro!”

“Match Found.”

Everyone’s eyes went to Akira’s phone and froze. The Metaverse app was bright and cheerful, gently pulsing on Akira’s screen. Akira slowly picked it up, confused.

“But… he shouldn’t have a palace. He’s like us.”

They turned to Morgana for questioning, who also was just as lost as the rest of them. 

“Don’t look at me! This shouldn’t be possible!”

“It’s asking for the other keywords.” Akira said.

“We should be going after the bigger target.” Futaba said, pushing her glasses up. “I don’t want to waste any time in case he catches you again.”

“Look, we’re just lucky he hasn’t come back here yet either. He could come back.” 

“Sis… did mention he really seemed to like this place.” 

“I’m screwed either way.”

“How did it not have a match earlier when we first met him?” Ann asked.

“I still don’t understand how he has a palace.” Morgana muttered.

“Wait, but I had a palace?” Futaba piped up.

“That was before you had your persona though. He already has his persona.” Yusuke answered.

“I don’t think now is the time to argue about this.” Makoto said sharply. “We have two big targets right now. Masayoshi Shido-” 

“Match Found.”

“And Akechi. And we have neither of their keywords.”

“We know more about Akechi than we do Shido.” Ann pointed out. “It’d would be easier to figure his out. I don’t think any of us have even talked to Shido that much.”

There was muttered agreement among them. Akira yanked a pillow from behind Ryuji and shoved it into his chest, having a coughing fit. He softly groaned after it was over, straightening up again. 

“Sheesh, that sounds nasty.” Ryuji said.

“In any case, I don’t think I can go to the Metaverse for a little while. I need to get somewhat better first or risk making this worse.”

“If you ever need it, I can do some physical therapy stuff with you dude.”

“Thanks. I can’t do anything too stressful. But I think we need to figure out keywords in any case before anything else.”

“So, Shido or Akechi?” Morgana asked.

“I say Akechi. He’s the bigger threat to us directly.” Akira said. “But I know Shido will be dangerous if we leave him alone too long.”

“Yeah, I say Akechi. We know him better.” Ann agreed. 

“Anyone disagree?” Makoto asked the group.

Everyone shook their heads.

“So, let’s start small. Akechi’s apartment.” Makoto started.

“Nope.”

“Shibuya?” Ryuji guessed.

“Nope.”

“Tokyo?”

“Match Found.”

“Great. Now we just need to think what he believes Tokyo to be.” Haru said, leaning back. “His playground?”

“Nope.”

“A chessboard?” Akira threw out there, getting nothing. “Not that either.”

They spent a good hour tossing out different words that might be relative to Akechi to no avail, all of them getting frustrated. Akira got up, feeling he was sitting too much. Ryuji got up too, standing next to him as he stretched. He gently guided him as he did various arm exercises, showing him different ones he could do and Akira following along.

“We’re not getting anywhere.” Futaba grumbled, crinkling a chip bag in her hand. 

“Maybe break for now and come back tomorrow?” Akira suggested. “It’s been kinda crazy the past few days.”

“Yeah, we should give you some time to sort out stuff as well.” Ann said, yawning. “Plus, we still got homework to do.” 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Ryuji grumbled. 

They slowly filed out one by one, Haru hanging back a little while Akira said his goodbyes to them. He turned around slowly, blinking in surprise to see Haru still here. 

“Hey. I was just wondering if you managed to get another binder yet?” She asked softly. “I could get you one.”

“Oh. Um, thanks. Sojiro already ordered one for me.”

“Oh.”

They stood in awkward silence for a moment. 

“But, thank you, for the offer. I’ve… never had someone who’d offer me that before.”

“Well, it still stands whenever you need another one. Good night.”

“Good night. Text me when you get home.”

“Yeah.”

He watches her leave, heaving a sigh in relief.

 _“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”_ Arsene murmured.

“They didn’t treat me any differently, so that’s good.” 

Akira let out a yawn, looking towards the bed. He undressed, shutting off the lights and crawling into bed. He had quite a few busy days ahead of him. And yet as he laid there with his eyes closed, sleeping seemed impossible. Soon enough, he found himself back in Arsene's room, clinging tightly to him. 

"Hello, Arsene."

"Akira, are you alright?"

"Overthinking again. I just need time to sort my feelings out."

"Ah... I understand. Emotions can be confusing. Take your time."

Akira sighed, pressing into his chest more. Arsene hummed gently, lulling him off to sleep.


	2. The Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally get the last keyword they needed. And their first trip is nothing like they expect it to be.

Akira groaned as he woke up, not even sure what time it was. He saw Haru's text from last night, dropping his phone onto the bed again. 

"Akira?" 

Morgana was standing over him, staring into his face. 

"Hi Mona." He mumbled, slowly sitting up.

He winced, his ribs aching at the effort to get up. 

"Maybe we should hold off on going to his palace?"

"I'm okay. If we can get his keywords, and we avoid any shadows, we can just check it out. Besides, we need to do this."

Morgana jumped down, staying by his feet as Akira made his way to the bathroom, slipping inside. The cafe was rather empty for the afternoon. He slipped back upstairs when he was done, sighing, his thoughts all over the place.

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself more, y'know." Morgana meowed.

"I'll just take it easy. We're gonna have to fight, that's unavoidable. I just… don't know what to expect? It's hard to explain how I feel about it."

_"You still have feelings for that traitor?"_ One of his many personas hissed. 

_Shut the hell up._

He rubbed his temples as the backlash from his personas started giving him a headache. Arsene growled at all of them in warning, their jeers dying down.

_"Don't listen to them. You two were close, after all."_ Arsene murmured.

_Not close enough._

_"It was not your fault he went through with it."_

"You're worried he'll connect the dots immediately, right?"

"That, and… it's just, weird to me I guess? It makes me sorta uneasy, in a way. I dunno. I'm overthinking again."

"It'll be less weird once we start going through it."

"Uh huh."

Akira sat down on the couch, going through his phone. Nothing really was keeping his attention, and he was starting to get frustrated.

“Have you eaten anything yet?”

“I’m not really hungry.” Akira said.

“You should eat something.” 

Akira sighed deeply. 

“I’m not hungry.”

_“My darling little thief, Magician is right. You need to eat. How will you recover if you don’t have the strength to?”_

“Uugh, fine. I think there’s some leftover curry from the last batch I made.”

Akira trodded downstairs, annoyed that they nagged him like that. Sojiro gave him a questioning look, but didn’t say anything. Akira reheated the curry carefully, stirring the whole time. Sojiro silently steadied his shaking hand as he spooned the curry onto a plate, shooting him a grateful look. Akira sat down at his usual spot, eating slowly. He glanced over at the other stool where Akechi usually sat, suddenly dizzy and nauseous. He dropped the spoon, burying his face in his hands, his elbows on the counter, groaning. 

_“Darling?”_

He could feel another group jeering about to start from his other personas before Arsene smacked the would-be instigator with his wing. Arsene reached out again, Akira feeling a slight tingle on his palm as he made to grab his hand. He instinctively curled his hand as if there was another hand there, feeling himself calm down. 

_“Breathe, my dear.”_

Akira inhaled deeply, ignoring his aches as he did so, and then exhaled slowly. He repeated this a few times until he stopped feeling like he was going to throw up. He stared down at his plate, his stomach feeling twisted on the inside. He lifted his face out of his hands, shifting so he could pick up the spoon again. He could feel his eyes watering, trying to blink away his tears rapidly.

“Akira?” Sojiro prodded gently, lowering his face to look him in the eye.

He felt a few tears roll down his face, but he managed to exhale another shaky breath. 

“I’m exhausted.” He mumbled, poking at the curry with his spoon.

_“Please try to eat a little more, love?”_

Akira ate a few more spoonfuls before his appetite disappeared completely. Three-quarters of his plate remained untouched as he slumped forward. He saw a cup of coffee being placed in front of him, watching the steam float upwards. He wrapped both his hands around it, pulling it close to him. He took a sip, feeling a bit more energized. 

“I’ll close up soon for your study group. It’s never busy today anyway.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, looking better already.” Ann commented, tossing him a bag of his favorite chips.

Akira let the bag land on the couch, grabbing them as he pulled out his phone.

“Thanks. Are we ready for this?”

“Not that I think you should be running around, but this does need to get done.” Morgana said, jumping up on the coffee table. 

Akira stuck his tongue out at him and rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be okay. Let’s just get started.”

They started tossing out more words, hoping any of them would be a hit. They paused in between guesses for discussions and a couple of arguments, none of them agreeing on what the last word they needed would be. Akira put the now empty bag on the table, picking the phone up. 

“Have we tried things with stages yet? TV Station.”

“Dude, we already tried that one.”

“Movie set. TV show? Theater? Opera house?”

Akira bit his lip, running through what else also had a stage. He could think of one other thing, but there was no way that would work.

“A circus?”

“You really think-” Ann started.

“Match found. Beginning navigation.”

That familiar shifting feeling of changing worlds hit all of them as they scrambled to stand up. The world blacked out for a moment before vision returned to their eyes. 

Where they were standing, a stark white clinical hallway, tiled and plastered in such a way as to almost look like the same material stretching in both directions. Every so often, a plastic plant or small window would break up the monotony, the dim orange light of dusk seeping in through the windows. 

“Uh, guys?” Futaba said, looking at herself. 

They weren’t in their thief clothes, which was to be expected, since Akechi didn’t see them as threats yet. But they weren’t in their street clothes either. 

Makoto looked to be wearing some sort of stunt daredevil suit, complete with stars everywhere and strange armpit fringes. Futaba was wearing a typical magician’s outfit, top hat included. Morgana was full on a lion, while Haru looked like his lion tamer with a whip attached to a metal gladiator looking skirt belt combination, the top half a toga. Ann had back and white striped short shorts with a sequined black and white tank top, unlit torches on a strap across her chest. Ryuji was in a clown costume, while Akira and Yusuke were both in tight leotards, both glittery, but Akira was lacking pants where Yusuke had them. Akira breathed a sigh of relief he was still as he was in his thief outfit, realizing Akechi didn’t see his file either.

“I’m a clown?! That son of a bitch!” Ryuji yelled.

Morgana snorted, Ryuji smacking him.

“Now is not the time to fight.” Makoto scolded, the two straightening up.

"I don't have much experience with circuses of any sort, but this hardly seems like anything that comes to mind of one." Yusuke said, looking around. "It doesn't have the usual air of a palace either."

"You're right. Something's off." Akira straightened up, looking down both ways. "Let's be cautious."

Akira chose a direction, wandering down until he got to one of the windows. Outside, the horizon was a hazy shadow, spotting what looked to be a tent far away from them sitting on the horizon line. 

"I'm betting that's it out there. But why are we here? And where are we?"

"We _are_ in his palace, right? It's weird there isn't any shadows around." Ryuji muttered, peering out the window.

"I'm getting a weird feeling from this whole thing." Ann admitted.

"We just have to keep going until we find a door or some other way outside. So let's go. We won't find it standing here." 

Makoto led the way farther down the hall, the others falling in line behind her. Ryuji stopped at one point to take apart one of the plastic plants, but there wasn't anything unusual in it. He reassembled it, dropping it with a frustrated sigh.

"You'd think there would be something to this place."

Akira had taken the lead again, wandering the hallway. It felt like they've been walking for hours with no change in their surroundings. Akira was starting to get a headache from the blinding white environment. He turned a corner and blinked in surprise. 

It had finally changed, a waiting room with blue plastic chairs, a shadow sitting behind a counter with a bored body language. Above it, in a dim blue curly font neon, it read "Tickets".

"Finally, something different." 

Akira walked up to the counter, the shadow perking up with a cheerful energy.

"Hello hello! How can I help you?"

Akira blinked, the voice sounding like Akechi's pleasant tv voice. 

_C'mon, focus._

"We'd like some tickets to the circus, please. We heard it was in town."

"Mhm. Okay. How many do you need, sir?"

"Nine."

"Hmm, not enough for the group discount, I'm afraid, but let me check if nine are available."

They watch as the shadow tapped along its keyboard, focused on the computer screen. 

"Hmm. Have you filled out your forms yet?"

"Forms? For tickets?"

"Yes, yes. Liability and all that. The company doesn't want anyone to sue in the rare case of some unfortunate accident. Y'know how it is."

Akira narrowed his eyes at it.

"No. Do you have them?"

The shadow reaches down, plopping a bunch of clipboards on the counter, followed by a cup of pens. Akira grabs the clipboards and a handful of pens, passing them all out. 

"This seems almost too easy." Haru muttered.

"I know, but we can't spend hours walking around again, what if this place doesn't reappear again?"

"Hey, how am I supposed to sign this? I don't have thumbs here." Morgana said, looking at his paws.

"Use your mouth." 

Haru held up a pen so Morgana could grab it with his teeth. The pages were complete legalese gibberish and Akira didn't bother, just signing wherever he needed as "Joker".

"I'll take them up when you're all done."

After a few minutes, all the forms were complete, Akira making a nice, organised pile and bringing back up to the desk.

"Oh, sorry, I can't take those yet. They need to be notarized. That should only take a day or two, depending on how backed up our notarization office is."

"Is there a way to get these expedited?" Makoto asked, glaring at the shadow.

"Well… she gets upset when she's bothered without advance notice but since it's dead…" The shadow scrambled, nervous typing ensuing. "There. She's expecting you. The notary office is down the hall and on the right."

Akira looked towards where it was pointing and sighed, taking the forms back and nodding for everyone to come. They walked down, thankful the office wasn't too far away from the Ticket area. Ann held the door open for him and Makoto to walk in, seeing a dead eyed shadow sitting at a wooden desk. It sighed upon seeing them, holding out its hand. Akira placed the forms into it, both watching as it meticulously went through and stamped each and every one. It dropped the papers back into his hands, Akira struggling to not drop them and reorganize them the way they were as they walked out. Back at the ticket counter, the shadow grabbed the forms from him, going through the papers and nodding in approval. Putting them aside, they watched it type out something for some time. They heard a printer start up, the shadow leaving the counter and disappearing in the back. It came back with a stack of papers paperclipped together, pressing it into his hands.

"These are our tickets, right?" 

"You need to bring those to the Specialty Entertainment Office to print out the actual tickets. These are just the proper paperwork for printing the actual tickets for you."

"But you're manning the Ticket Office!" Ryuji snapped at it.

"Yes, but I don't have the authority to print out the tickets you need. It's not every day the circus is in town. They have a tendency to move."

"This is ridiculous." 

The shadow shrugged. 

"Sorry, I have no control over our policies, sir."

"Okay, fine. Where is it?" Akira huffed.

"Past the notary office, need to take a right and then a left to reach it. It's a door on your left. Has Specialty Entertainment on the door. Can't miss it."

Akira led the way again, past the office they were just in, following the directions. 

“This is stupid.” Ryuji complained.

“Look, we play this game just a little longer and it’ll work out for us, okay?”

They found the office after several minutes of walking, trying to push their way inside. They jiggled the handle, finding the door to be locked. Haru knocked hard on the door, pulling back to wait. What felt like several more minutes of waiting before a slot opened up in the door and eyes peered down at them.

“We’re closed, can’t you take a hint?”

“But we need tickets printed!” 

“We’re closed, buddy. Nothing I can do to help you.”

“Is there something we can do to change your mind?”

The eyes in the slot narrowed. 

“Coffee machine.” 

“Where would we-”

The slot clicked closed before Akira could finish his question. Akira handed the stack of papers off to Ann, annoyed. 

“That coffee machine won’t find itself.”

“Wait, let me try and scan for one.” Futaba said, sitting down. 

She typed away at her laptop, the others waiting.

“There. A little further down this hallway.”

Futaba guides them to the machine, picking it up. She frowns, looking it over.

“Lemme guess. The thing’s broken.” Ryuji hissed.

“Yup.”

“Uuugh. I got it.” Akira grumbles, closing his eyes before opening them again.

The white world turned into a dark blue haze, letting him see the stuff hidden around them. 

“How many are missing?”

“Three pieces.”

Akira hurried to find the pieces, collecting a bunch of little treasures in the process. Finally after an intensive search, he sat down, taking the machine from Futaba and getting to work dismantling it. He reassembled it with the pieces intact, holding it up for Futaba to inspect.

“Okay, looks good.”

Akira heaved a sigh of relief, getting up. He started leading the way back to the Specialty Entertainment Office, having a sudden realization and stopping, causing Ann to knock into him, scattering the forms from her hands.

“Hey!” Ann shouts at him, starting to pick up the loose papers.

“Forget those.” Akira growled. “Once we give this shadow the damn coffee machine, something else is going to happen before we can get these stupid tickets. And it’s just gonna keep repeating itself until we quit out of frustration.”

They immediately understood, getting upset too.

“So what do we do?” Futaba asked. “We can’t exactly get out of here on our own. The app would most likely just bring us back here.”

“We demand a manager.” Haru stated. “We go to give the shadow the machine. We force our way in and don’t let up until we see results.”

Akira offers her the machine, Haru taking it from him with grace. She marches them back to the office, knocking on the door once again. The slot opened, the eyes widening upon seeing the machine before the slot closed again. The door opened, hands reaching for the coffee machine before Haru slammed into him, knocking the shadow to the ground. Everyone else rushed in behind her, guaranteeing the shadow was not going to be able to shut them out again.

“Where is your manager?” Makoto snapped at it. 

“Ma’am, this is very rude-!”

“Rude? You didn’t even bother with pleasantries after our initial mix up of office times and you made us run an errand for you. I demand to see your manager!”

Morgana moved in as the shadow attempted to run away, pinning him down with a paw. He snarled at it, causing it to shake.

"Ma'am please call off your lion, it's-"

"I demand. To see. Your manager. And he will stay exactly where he is until your manager comes down here."

The shadow hurriedly pulled out a walkie talkie and spoke into it, requesting managerial assistance. They all stare it down until another shadow appears.

"I'm the manager of this office. How can I help you?"

"We've been trying to get tickets and your employee was rude to us and made us run an errand. I'm sure you understand how ridiculous that is."

"Well, you see-"

"Cut the bullshit. We're not running around for any of you anymore. We're onto your tricks now. You either get us to the circus or we will destroy you." Haru stated in a cold tone.

The shadows exchanged a look, the manager backing away.

"We're going to have to call the owner for you. He's too busy for such sma-"

"Call him."

They watch the shadow like a hawk as he dialed the desk phone, waiting.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but there's some strangely dressed customers down threatening violence if you don't have an audience with them. Yes, that’s right. Sir?? R-right sir, yessir, sorry sir." 

It hung up the phone, terrified.

"He'll be here shortly."

The gang stare the two down until a bulky shadow pushes its way in, the Ticket counter shadow in hand, also terrified. The shadow looks them over, glaring at all of them. It pushes the other shadow so all three of them were together, growling.

“Are you idiots blind?! These fine folks are part of the performing troupe and you try and give them the run around?! They’re part of the show itself! Now get them what they need and get out of my sight while I still decide to spare you brainless cowards!”

The shadows scatter, apologizing profusely. The bulky shadow sighed, turning to them.

“So sorry about that. The crowd is expecting all of you, you know.”

The Thieves share a confused glance among themselves, but give the shadow an appreciative nod. As they waited once more, the world around them started wavering, white fading to red and then their vision turned to black once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting into it for realsies.


	3. The Greatest Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves finally get to the actual circus, their Palace Infiltration just beginning.

Akechi smoothed out any wrinkles in his suit, checking over for any discrepancies in his perfect appearance. 

_ “Congratulations, dear.”  _ Loki purred softly.  _ “Don’t celebrate too hard. We still have some loose ends to tie up.” _

Akechi grinned as he straightened up and adjusted his tie. Robin Hood, as he had for the past few days, remained silent. He could still feel him, his power thrumming idly under his skin. 

The entirety of Sae's Palace said otherwise. Throughout it, Robin Hood had been argumentative, easily irritated, nagged him near constantly, and ironically, became rebellious. All the time he had known him up to that point, Akechi knew Robin was a patient, gentle sort, maybe not agreeing on everything but never that loud and brash about it. 

And then on his way down to carry out the plan, Robin was begging, pleading, trying to get him to ditch the plan the entire walk, and not even Loki could get him to shut up. It wasn't until he put a bullet into Joker's brain that Robin went mercifully silent.

But the bless persona seemed almost farther away now, somehow. Not like it really mattered for Akechi anymore. He had Loki now, and he really only needed Robin long enough to fool the Phantom Thieves. He didn't need disobedience in his personas. He leaned into the mirror to check his teeth one last time, making sure nothing was caught in between them. On his way out of the dressing room, he paused halfway, feeling a bit lightheaded.

_ Huh. Strange. _

_ "Something you ate today?"  _ Loki asked.

_ No. We were running a bit late this morning. Forgot to eat. _

He was expecting the usual reminder from Robin to eat right after he was done, but it didn't come. Akechi rolled his eyes and exited the room, heading to his interview. He only had to answer a few questions, as his latest case was still, technically, being wrapped up. Only feed them a few details. Make sure he had their attention as they anticipate a good talk on how he was right all along.

~~~~~~~~

They opened their eyes again, finding themselves out in a flat field, cars parked everywhere in neat little rows. They turn to find the circus tent looming over them, bright and cheerful, with a line of shadows lined up at the entrance and funneling in.

"Oh thank god! We're in our outfits again." Ryuji said, patting himself down.

They looked themselves over, seeing their clothes were back to normal now. They were threats again.

"I have thumbs again!"

"We have to be extra careful this time around. He knows who we are and how we fight. Who knows what his shadow is capable of." Makoto stated. 

"Right. Now we just need a way in."

"If we circle around to the back, I bet there's some stuff that we can hide against since they would need carts and stuff to move the tent around. Come on." 

They make their way at a snail's pace, weaving in and out behind cars as they spot shadows periodically moving through the parking spaces. They have to stop occasionally for Akira as well, his ribs bothering him from time to time.

"Joker, are you sure you want to keep going?" Haru asked.

"If we can get inside and to a safe room, I think we can call that enough progress for today."

They kept moving, avoiding shadows they could’ve easily ambushed and beaten, Akira trying to hurry their way around. Rounding the side, they see the carts and wheeled cages scattered out behind the tent. Shadows idled here and there, occasionally taking a walk around. They timed their movements, darting from hiding place to hiding place, Akira falling a bit behind. Ryuji checked on him, offering a hand. Akira shook his head, motioning them to keep going. 

“Over there. Hole in the tent above a cage.” Haru whispered back to them, taking the lead.

They follow her over to it, jumping up onto the cage and then up into the tent. They landed in the nosebleed section of seats, looking around. Shadows filled the seats, chittering and excited. Lots of ropes, platforms, rings and trapezes dotted the vertical space of the center area, three large circles in the ground, separating different floor level acts from each other. In the center circle, a raised platform stood, not very far off the ground, someone prancing around on it. 

“There he is, center stage.” Akira muttered, directing their attention to the lowest middle platform.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention on me! Welcome to the greatest show! We’re about to start so if you please, take your seats and enjoy our best performance!” 

Akechi’s shadow smiled a wide, sharp-toothed grin under his top hat, gold eyes doing a quick sweep over the audience. The pastel blue, white padded shoulders, and gold accented ringmaster’s coat shimmered in the light, fit exactly to his measurements and seemed to stand out despite how far away he was. The gold eyes seemed to linger on Akira’s for a moment too long before they swept past him, taking in the audience. His shadow swung off the platform with ease and grace, disappearing in an opening behind where he just was. 

“Now what?” Ann asked.

“First, we gotta find a safe room. I’m not feeling that great, considering the run around we were put through earlier.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll know when we get close.” Morgana said, looking around. “There. Looks like there’s signs to a concessions area nearby, so it’s a good place to start. So you know, we’re not stuck wandering around in the audience.”

Akira waved him on, letting him lead the way. Akira was on high alert, scanning over the wavering crowd of shadows for any that were potential threats to them. The signs pointed them down a staircase, Morgana hopping down them, pausing on the first landing. 

“Shadows below us. Three of them. The safe room is nearby, I can sense it.”

Akira slipped in behind him, flicking between his Third Eye and his normal sight. 

“They’re weak. I say we ambush them, see what we’re dealing with. Mona, Skull, Fox, with me.”   
  
Akira seemed to glide down the steps, the other three falling in line. He leapt at the closest one, ripping its face off, backflipping away and landing on his feet in one graceful movement, the shadow bursting into its true form in front of them. Three cerberuses growled at them, Yusuke taking the lead and slamming them all with a mabufala, wiping them off their feet. Their all out attack finished them off, the four landing on their feet. Akira signaled the coast was clear, Morgana finding the safe room door beside an empty popcorn stand and pushing inside. Akira immediately collapsed on the softest surface, stripping off his coat and unbuttoning the vest underneath. Arsene hovered over him protectively as he groaned and covered his eyes. 

“Do you want to call it for today, dude?” Ryuji asked. “You’re not looking too hot.”

“I just need a few minutes.” He whispered, taking slow, deep breaths.

“Darling, don’t push yourself. We have time.” Arsene chastised in a motherly fashion. 

“Mama bird worries as always.” Carmen snickered, before sobering up. “Lupin is right. You’re still injured, are you not? It’s inadvisable to push beyond your physical limits, and you were having trouble just getting here.”

“Yeah, seriously. You’ll hurt yourself more at this rate.” Futaba commented. 

Akira sighed quietly, leaning back. 

“In any case, this is as good a place as any to stop for today.” Makoto got up, stretching a little. “That first part was making you really upset.”

“And you said you would rest when we got to a safe room.” Haru added. 

“Okay, alright. I get it. Just let me rest here for a bit before we go.”

They watch as Akira takes a few more deep breaths before buttoning his vest back up and shrugging on his coat. They follow him back out to the entrance, waiting as the world shifted around them. They appeared back in Leblanc's attic, Akira hunching over again to hide his chest.

"See you all tomorrow?" 

They nodded, discussing their plan of attack for tomorrow briefly. They said their goodbyes, leaving.

"Please rest, dude." Ryuji added on his way out. 

"I will."

After taking some more pain medication, Morgana followed him to bed, waiting until he got comfortable before settling down.

~~~~~~~~

Akechi bought a crepe as he walked from one train to the other, taking small bites out of it as he waited. Loki shifted, Akechi feeling his impatience.

_ "Mementos training? I'm bored." _

_ We have a lot of paperwork to do tonight. Plus homework I've been putting off. _

Loki sighed, grumbling about not being able to have fun. Silence from his other persona, not even an argument that he needed to stay on top of his school work. Robin Hood's emotions, weirdly, were closed off to him. He could feel the cold shoulder Robin was giving him, sure. But actually reading his feelings? There was nothing there anymore. That shouldn't be bothering him as much as it was. 

_ Homework or paperwork first, Robin?  _ He asked sweetly, hoping to coax him into talking.

Nothing. Not even anger or disappointment. Loki snorted, rolling his eyes.

_ "Why do you even bother? Clearly, Dandy doesn't want to be mature." _

Even that jab didn't get a protest or defense out of the archer. No matter, his train just arrived, watching as it hissed open before stepping inside. He pushed the weird feelings over Robin aside, much more urgent things to worry about at the moment 

~~~~~~~

"Right, so where should we go from here?" 

They made it back to the safe room they got to yesterday. Akira was doing a little better this time around, since they didn't have to go through the first part of his palace again.

"I think, I saw an open door at the end of the hall, past this room. It looked like it might go back outside, though." Ryuji said. "Might be a way to avoid some shadows, though. There's a lot more inside than out."

"I mean, it's as good a place as any. I doubt we'd be able to get right to the stage anyway, not without a huge fight." Makoto said, crossing one leg over the other.

"Right. So we'll go there first. Hopefully it swings back around into a different area of the tent." Akira nodded, straightening up. "Everyone ready to go?"

They confirmed, getting up and stretching. Akira waited on them before heading back out into the concession area. He let Ryuji guide them to the door he saw, all of them carefully avoiding the patrolling shadows. They stopped, Ryuji gesturing at the green door ahead of them. There was a neon sign above it, unlit and looking burned out.

"Here. This… Hall of Mirrors place. I was hoping it might go somewhere."

"Let's go, then. And if not, it might give us some treasures to sell."

Akira slid over to the door, trying the handle. Luckily, it responded to his touch, pushing in. They enter and the door, predictably, locked behind them as soon as they were all inside. Akira rolled his eyes, his reflections rolling theirs as well before moving forward. He switched to his Third Eye as soon as he realized they were in a maze of mirrors, the mirrors bright in his other sense while potential paths were dark. They held hands as they slowly navigated the place, having to turn back a couple of times as they ran into dead ends.

"Wait, switch your sight back, Joker. You have to see this." Futaba whispered to him.

He switched back to see what they were staring at. An image of Akechi, slowly turning around in the mirror with a fabric ruler around his stomach and standing on a scale, standing in front of another mirror. 

"Finally, the perfect weight. Now if I lose or gain a pound I won't have this perfect body anymore." Akechi's subconscious whispers as they watch his image turn around again.

Akira frowned, his thoughts violently disagreeing with Akechi's subconscious. 

_ He's fine just the way he is. _

_ "Dear, focus. We have no clue how safe this place really is." _

That got Akira moving again, leading them down another path, hand in front of him to feel his way around. Another few turns later, and they came across a mirror that looked to be a buffet reflected inside it, Akechi wandering through it.

"Can't eat that. Nope. Not that either. Maybe a bite of this won't hurt. Definitely not that. This, more of this. But not too much. I need to stay the perfect weight. I need to." He harshly whispered.

Akira paused, staring wistfully into the mirror. The harsh reminder of how his mother would police his diet before he was out, how he couldn't find love if he didn't lose weight, the struggle to fit into his mother's latest diet she bullied him into doing with her, all of that was threatening to overwhelm him. 

"Are you okay?" Futaba asked gently.

"Just... been there, is all." He admitted, gesturing at the frantic reflection nitpicking over the buffet. "The weight thing."

Ann gave him an understanding look, also seeming down by this particular reflection. He pushed on, feeling desperate to get out of here now. He switched back to that blue haze, being able to go through the place a little quicker. He froze when he heard the crunch of glass under his feet, noticing the broken mirrors.

"This won't do, this won't do at all. I can't have any flaws. None. They'll stop loving me if I'm not perfect. Gotta be perfect. Celebrities have to be perfect." Akechi's voice was a harsh growl.

"God, who did this to him?" Akira wondered out loud before he could stop himself.

"There is a lot of pressure to look a certain way when you're in the public eye." Ann admitted. 

Akira felt angry and disgusted by that, clenching his fist. 

"Let's just… get out of here." Haru said. 

"Yeah." 

Several more twists and turns before they found another door, Akira making his way to it. He pushed on the door, sighing in relief as it opened. They gather near the door, looking around the new area.

"This just brought us back outside." Morgana grumbled.

"I mean, yeah. But there's a lot more things to explore here."

They look around, seeing several large shadow animals lounging around in cages, glaring at everyone who passed. 

"Let's look around. Besides, I doubt we can go back this way for a little while. I wanna make some significant progress while we still can."

They move on, Akira giving one last glance towards the door they just came out of, feeling uneasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slaps Akechi on the back* This sad boy can fit so many body image issues in him.


	4. The Cages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves explore the new area they just stumbled into.

The animals were agitated. Every cage they passed, the shadowy creatures inside would rush to the bars closest to them and ram themselves against them, hoping to get out. The Thieves carefully made their way around, having to quickly hide elsewhere when guard shadows came to investigate why the animals threw themselves at the bars. They had to fight a fair amount as they were discovered, their chosen hiding places at times inadequate. 

“The hell’s up with them?” Ryuji muttered.

"Something's agitating them, and it's… surprisingly not us entirely." 

Necronomicon spoke to all of them directly in their heads, startling them. Necronomicon never said much but when they did, the soothing mechanical voice was mentally jarring shoved alongside their normal thoughts.

"Good lord, ye gotta stop doin' that." Captain Kidd hissed. "Or at leas' be quieter."

"What is it then, Necro?" Makoto asked.

"I don't know. I cannot find the source. My scanners are not picking up anything unusual." 

"Right, jumpscare aside," Akira got their attention again, Futaba snickering. "We should try to find a conversation to eavesdrop and see if we can make some sense out of it."

They followed as Akira slinked around the cages, looking around for chatty shadows. It took a longer time than usual, since the animals kept making noises that attracted guards, but they finally managed to find a pair hanging out by a few empty cages.

“What do you mean you can’t find it? It makes the animals calm!”

“It’s gone! It’s not in its usual place anymore! Can’t we just ask the Ringmaster for the replacement gramophone?” The other one sniffled. 

“Are you an idiot? We can’t bother him in the middle of a show! Besides, this is trivial and beneath him. We just gotta spread out and search for it.”

“What’s wrong with sending the Tamer in?”

“She’s only really good with the black lion. Besides, right now she’s preparing for her part in the show, remember? Let’s just start searching.”

They watch as the shadows split up and move, staring at the ground. 

“A gramophone, huh?” Akira muttered. 

“Knowing our luck so far, we’re probably gonna have to look for it ourselves.” Futaba said.

“I don’t believe that would be too hard to find.” Yusuke added.

“Yeah, but we better get it before those shadows do.” Akira said, sliding to the corner to look for any more shadows coming. “So let’s get going.”

They searched high and low, and after what felt like an hour they came across a row of seemingly empty cages. Akira, relieved they didn’t have to deal with any more of the angry animals, took his time to sweep the cages with his other sight. There was something glowing at the end of the row, but moving over to it revealed no way to get inside it. He saw it was the gramophone they were looking for, doubling back to see if they could get in. The very start of the row was the only one with a door, Akira getting to work picking the lock on the cage. The lock fell to the ground, the door swinging inwards at a touch. They jumped up into the cage, making their way back towards the gramophone. A flicker of blueish white at the edge of his vision made him turn his head, but there was nothing there. 

“Hey, did you guys just see that?”

“See what?” 

“...Nothing, nevermind.”

Akira moved forward, deciding to forget about it. The cage they were in was connected to the next, the other side darkening with every step they took towards the third cage. That flicker of blueish white again, this time in front of him. He took a step back, which was fortunate because a Girimehkala swiped at him, barely missing. Three of them closed in on them, Ryuji, Makoto and Haru jumping to his side.

“Figured it wouldn’t be this easy.” Akira grumbled, cycling through his masks since he knew Arsene wasn’t going to be effective here. 

They had several fights in the cages, getting more difficult the closer they got to the gramophone. Akira kept seeing the white thing out of the corner of his eye, getting teasingly clearer each time, but always gone when he went to look closer. He pushed to the edge when he saw it again, huffing when it disappeared again.

“Come on!”

“Do you need a break, leader? You seem rather unfocused.” Johanna asked.

“I keep seeing it but it’s gone when I turn around!”

“Joker, focus. This isn’t the time for some elaborate prank.” Yusuke said.

“But it’s not.”

Arsene hopped out, kneeling down to eye level with him and cupping his face. Akira sighed deeply, patting his hands.

“I know, I know. Calm down.” He mumbled. 

“It might be another trick, dear. I just want you to be careful.”

Akira took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. 

“Okay. Sorry. We’re almost there. Anyone need anything before we push on? That last fight was rather tough.”

“I could use a little coffee actually, if we still happen to have any.” Ann said, stretching. 

Akira dug out the thermos, pouring out some cups for her and anyone else who wanted some, making a cup for himself last. The caffeine felt refreshing, at least. He put the thermos away, collecting the cups after everyone was done. 

“So, how much do you wanna bet it’s missing something?” Ryuji asked.

“The person betting against you is probably going to lose it, knowing our luck so far. Everyone ready to go?”

They nodded, falling behind Akira as they continued on. Everyone paused as this cage was surprisingly empty, halfway in. They were tense, slowly inching their way forward. They froze as they heard a woman crying ahead of them.

“What the ‘ell?” Kidd muttered.

Akira dashed forward to the start of the next cage, peering into it. The blueish white figure that had been plaguing him for a while was in front of him, kneeling on the ground. Sobs racked the figure’s body, its back to them. Seems they found the source of the crying.

“There it is. I wasn’t lying.” Akira hissed, turning back towards them. 

The rest looked apologetic. 

“In any case, let’s be cautious.” Makoto said, sliding up next to him.

“Right.” Akira agreed, stepping out into the cage carefully, Makoto, Ryuji and Morgana close behind.

Akira crept up on it, holding his gun to its head, just in case.

“Hello?”

There was a pause in its sobs as the figure’s head slowly turned around to stare at them. She looked a lot like Akechi, hair loose and cascading over her shoulders. Those familiar red eyes stared at him, before she started weeping again. Akira’s stomach lurched looking at her, because there was something wrong. She was out of focus, hands grabbing her forearms and pressed against her chest, but he could see the start of an injury on her arms.

“Can we help you, somehow?” Akira asked gently, crouching down.

“I can’t find my baby.” She blubbered. “I lost him. He must be so scared and, and-”

“Hey, we can help you look for him. It’ll be okay.” Akira offered, his tone gentle. 

“Would you? You’re… you’re so kind.” 

“What does he look like?”

“Light brown hair, reddish eyes, he’s wearing a white shirt and brown shorts. He has a yellow balloon tied to his wrist.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Please find him.” She whispered.

Akira stood up, walking back to the other cage, everyone else following suit.

“Oracle-”

“We’re already on it.” Futaba said, rapidly typing.

“Do you think that was…” Ryuji started, trailing off.

“Yeah.” Akira replied.

“Right, so we got three big shadows in this area. I suspect our missing kid is with one of them.”

“Alright, so which one’s closest?”

Futaba guided them to the first large shadow, the group being careful not to alert any guards on the way there. It was standing by a tiger cage, glaring as they approached. There was a yellow balloon nearby, but it wasn’t the child as far as they could tell.

“Oy, thieves huh?” The shadow snarled, ripping the cage door open to let the shadow tigers out as it revealed itself. 

With some well planned attacks and some luck, they managed to swiftly defeat the shadows. Once they confirmed the balloon wasn’t attached to a child, they made their way to the next location, Futaba directing them. They passed a cognition of Haru and Mona, ignoring them when they called out to them, practicing tricks. They continued, deciding to try and get this done as fast as possible. The next one was by some carts, unloading stuff from it. It was startled by their appearance, revealing its true form to fight them. This one was a bit more difficult, but they managed to get it down with a well timed strike from Haru. This balloon was also childless, and they make the trek to the last large shadow they needed to fight, going back to the Hall of Mirrors. It was standing outside the door, fiddling with the handle and demanding it be opened, when they snuck up on it and attacked it. After a long fight, Zorro knocked it off its feet and they finished it off with an all-out attack. 

“It’s always the last one.” Akira mumbled, moving to the door.

He reached for the handle, thought better of it and knocked on it. The door opened slowly, a tiny red eye peeking out at him.

“Hello?”

Akira kneeled down, smiling kindly at him.

“Hi. Your mother sent us to find you.”

“You know where mama is??” The child exclaimed, throwing open the door.

Akira’s heart skipped a beat as a tiny Akechi stumbled out, in awe of them, a little yellow balloon tied to his wrist. He looked like he had just been crying. He looked around at all of them and backed away a little, unsure. 

“It’s okay, they’re here to help too.” Akira said gently, holding out his hand.

“Yeah, we won’t hurt you.” Morgana chirped.

“Oooh, kitty!” 

He ran past Akira to pet Morgana. Morgana grumbled as baby Akechi squished his cheeks, smiling widely. 

“Hey buddy, why don’t we get you to your mom, okay? She’s been looking for you.” Ryuji asked.

“Okay.” Akechi said, reaching out for Ryuji’s hand.

Ryuji grabbed it, and Akira grabbed his other hand when Akechi reached for it, smiling brightly. They slowly walked with him back to the cages, avoiding the shadows as best they could, Akechi hiding behind one of the other Phantom Thieves when they had no choice but to fight. They got to the cages after what felt like another hour or so, letting Ryuji up first, Zorro helping to lift child Akechi up into the cage. They let him set the pace, walking through the now empty cages. Akechi lit up once he saw the woman, letting go of Akira and Ryuji and running to her.

“Mama!” 

“Goro! Thank God you’re safe.” 

She scooped him into a hug, Akechi clinging tightly to her. They gave them space, watching as Akechi curled up in her lap, the woman relieved.

“I was so scared, mama. Can you sing that song again?”

She smiled, inhaling and starting to sing. They watched Akechi close his eyes, snuggling up to her.

“It’s a fine day, people open windows, they leave their houses, just for a short while-”

She continued softly until the two of them faded, leaving the gramophone behind. Akira walked over to it, picking it up.

“Thank you.” The woman’s voice whispered into his ear.

Akira rejoined the thieves with the  gramophone, finally exhaling. They walk out of the cages, Akira winding the handle up a lot. He let the crank go, the gramophone playing the song the woman was just singing. 

“Right, let’s go find our way out of here.” Morgana said.

They move on, the animals now settled down and no longer angry. They breathe a sigh of relief that they can move without the animals attracting the shadows to them anymore. They find an open section of the tent and go back inside, waiting what else awaits them. 

They find themselves near the performance circles, the show in full swing now for the most part. Akechi’s shadow was no where to be seen, though.

“Okay, I think I feel a safe room somewhere. We should head there and check in.” Morgana whispered.

Akira nodded, following Morgana’s lead to a old looking carriage, climbing inside it to the new safe room. 

“How are we feeling?”

“I’m kinda burnt out. This one was kinda a toughie.” Ann complained.

“As am I. By the way, how are you holding up, Leader?” Yusuke asked.

Akira coughed a little to clear the stuffiness in his chest, rolling his shoulders around. 

“Not great, but I can still go a little longer.”

“Akira.” Arsene warned.

“You looked like you were starting to falter a bit, Wildcard. Do not push yourself for our sake.” Zorro added, giving him a stern look.

Akira sighed. 

“Seriously, I think we need a break. Those animals alerted too many guards to us.” Makoto said.

“Yeah, yeah you’re right. Let’s head out?”

It was an overwhelming yes, Akira leading the way back out of the Palace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akechi was getting ready for bed early, having a long day tomorrow with both school and work, spitting out the toothpaste into his sink. He yawned and stretched, making his way to bed. His pajamas he threw on, settling down into bed soon afterwards.

_ Long day tomorrow. Maybe we can hit up Mementos for you, Loki, if I feel up to it. _

_ “Sounds good to me.”  _ Loki murmured, settling down as well.

As he drifted off to sleep, he could’ve sworn he heard Robin Hood gently humming a familiar melody, something he hadn’t heard in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akechi's mom is singing this: https://youtu.be/4vgcYBwyw28
> 
> But yeah they've got what they needed to get by.


	5. The Big Top

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves are now exploring the main tent area, finding a few of themselves around.

Akira finds himself back in Arsene’s room, confused. Arsene stared at him from the leather armchair, somewhat stern, his hands folded in his lap.

“Darling, please. I’m urging you to take it easier.”

“Is this what you called me here for?”

“Akira…”

Akira wordlessly held out his arms, Arsene getting up and hugging him. After a minute or two, Arsene lifted him up and sat down in one smooth motion, putting Akira in his lap. 

“But we need to do this. I know I should be resting but-”

“I know you’re worried about him. But if you’re not careful, you’ll never get better.”

“I know. You don’t need to nag me, Arsene.” Akira snapped at him.

Arsene sighs, Akira tensing up and giving him a hard stare. Arsene started rubbing his back slowly, frowning.

“You know I worry a lot about you, my darling thief.”

Akira exhaled, rubbing his eye.

“Sorry… I shouldn’t snap at you…”

“I don’t want you to neglect yourself. That’s all I ask.” Arsene murmured, gently pressing his forehead against Akira’s.

Akira closed his eyes, patting his cheek.

“I’m not trying to. I just don’t want him to catch on and kill me for real before we save him.”

“I know. Just…” Arsene hovered his claws over his ribs, making his breath hitch. “I want you to get better.”

“I’m doing all I can, Arsene.”

They stayed like that until Akira felt himself drift away again.

Akira coughed up a storm right after he woke up, grumbling to himself. He could feel Arsene’s worry spike up, making him anxious. 

“Sheesh. You sure you’re good to go today?” Morgana asked.

“I just need to get going.” Akira mumbled.

_ “Akira, please keep what I said last night in mind.”  _

_ I will. Just worry less? _

Akira could feel Arsene give him a look. He rubbed the back of his neck, mumbling an apology. He stretched out a little more today, making sure to do all the ones Ryuji showed him as well.

"Maybe just rest up until school's out? If we want to try and get a good chunk of his Palace done, we can't have our leader tired beforehand."

"I was thinking maybe the bathhouse tonight as well? Just to relieve some pain."

"Sure. As long as you rest."

Akira nodded, sitting on his couch.

~~~~~~~~

It was a rare occasion that Akechi ever went to the hunting lodge anymore. It sat in his dreams, and when he was first learning and getting used to the Metaverse, Robin Hood would await him here, warm and welcoming.

But now? 

It was in disarray. Barely lived in. Decaying. Cold. And admittedly the worst of all, empty. 

Usually on these visits, he could hear Robin, muffled and quiet and out of sight, barely over the sounds of the forest at night. But now all he could hear are crickets and the occasional owl hoot.

And it unnerved him, right at this very moment, though he'd hate to admit it.

Akechi could feel himself slip deeper into dreams, welcoming the dark over the abandoned.

~~~~~~~~~

They make it back to the carriage, planning out their next moves. Arsene partially had his wing wrapped around, hovering a few inches away from his shoulder. He gave Arsene a look, getting soft worry in return.

"Right, so I doubt we'd be able to get center stage without a whole lot of fighting. Besides, I don't believe the Treasure would be there, of all places." Akira stated.

"Right. And Akechi's shadow could appear at any moment. So we need to find somewhere his Treasure might be." Makoto added.

"If we had a map of this section, it would be easier."

"It's weird we haven't seen any at all so far, actually."

"That's most likely because it's pretty open. Still, that is odd."

"I mean, we don't really need one. Why don't we find where Akechi's shadow disappeared to? That's gotta lead somewhere, right?"

"We're not really getting anywhere by sitting here anyway. So let's go, and avoid stepping in the circles for now. We can figure it out on the way."

They leave the safe room, being extra cautious.

"There we are again, Mona." Haru said, calling everyone's attention to the familiar cognitions nearby.

"Hey, I'm there too." Ann said.

A little further away from the pair was Ann’s cognition, and currently the three of them were all performing. They watch as cognitive Ann swallows a lit torch, a moment later breathing out an impressive stream of fire, while nearby cognitive Morgana and Haru are busy doing a complicated trick, much like they saw them practice earlier. They watched until the three of them were finished with their routines, leaving the circle. They tailed the small group, hiding behind something as they stopped to talk.

"The Ringmaster sure seems a little paranoid tonight, doesn't he?"

"Think it's the Acrobat's fault? Been more aggressive trying to get his attention lately."

"Sheesh, poor thing's trying too hard. The Ringmaster doesn't settle for anything less than perfect. I don't think the poor thing's at fault, though."

"Maybe he's just on edge? The animals were dreadful earlier."

"Maybe. Who knows."

Akira watched as they continued chatting, walking away and becoming more indistinct.

"Right. If his shadow is on edge, we should be more careful." Akira muttered. "That's not good. He may be getting suspicious."

"Wait, which acrobat? There's a ton here." Ryuji asked.

"Who knows. I don't think it matters, anyway. Just sounded like some idle gossip." Haru said.

"Yeah, I agree. The more important part of that is now we know his shadow's on edge." Ann nodded.

"Right, let's keep going." Ryuji muttered, waving Akira on.

They continue around the ring, spotting cognitive Ryuji out in the center ring in the middle of similar shadows, too far away to make out anything. They weren’t going to risk trying to talk to him at the moment, he was too far out in the middle of the tent to avoid being seen. Makoto tapped his shoulder and pointed up, the group barely able to make out a cognitive Yusuke above them on the higher tightropes. They silently agreed to move on, Akira taking the lead, keeping an eye out for Akechi’s shadow. They followed the middle circle to the center, seeing a little part in the fabric. They moved towards it, Akira lifting it up and seeing another practice area. There was something moving around, the suspended rings shaking a little. There looked to be another building farther away, towards where the middle of the third circle was. It looked to be fenced off from this area though.

“Let’s look around here. I’m sure there’s something we’ll need later.” Morgana whispered.

They nodded, moving closer to the flattened out practice area. Akira looked up and paused, staring at his cognitive self. He was gorgeous, filling out the leotard nicely, his expression friendly and pleasant. An acrobat, by the looks of it. He was lounging inside a giant suspended ring, idly spinning around. 

"Why hello there! Come to for an autograph? I’m flattered, really." The cognitive Akira spoke, flashing teeth much too sharp. "But I mean, I  _ am _ the favorite for a reason."

"Favorite?" Akira asked dumbly.

"What? You haven't heard? I’m our most beloved Ringmaster's favorite out of all of us. How could you not know?" The voice turned almost snobby. "Ah, must be your first time, isn't it? Explains it."

"How are you so sure you are his favorite? Doesn't seem like the Ringmaster's around too much."

His cognitive twin scoffed, looking offended.

"He spends the most time with me out of everyone." Then the scowl turned into a sly smile at Akira directly. "Doesn't he?"

Akira swallowed quietly. The tone was too sharp, dripping with unspoken insult. He was mocking Akechi, but he had to stay calm. His twin snorted, turning his head away.

"If only he realized. But oh, he can't have that, can he? Not with who he is."

"What are you talking about?"

"Wow, you're dense." The cognition sneered, leaning forward seductively. "Come now. Someone of his status? They'll tear him apart."

"Who?"

"His darling little fan girls, of course. You know, if they ever found out he's not into them."

"His fans? Well, surely he doesn't have time fo-"

"Stop playing dumb." The cognitive him snarled. "You really think they'd still love him if he admits it? Who’s ever going to love a celebrity that's a fa-"

The cognition yelped as black hellfire fire slammed heavily into it, hitting the ground and disappearing. Akira gritted his teeth, shaking violently. He dug his nails hard into his palm, and he could feel his knuckles turning white with how tense his fists were.

"Joker?" Ryuji asked, gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey buddy?"

Akira jerked his head back, coming back to himself. His breaths were shallow, his injuries flaring up. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay here and push himself.

"Sorry. I just need a moment." He mumbled, focusing on unclenching his fists.

"Do we need to find a safe room?"

"Yeah. I'm getting tired." He admitted, touching his chest.

They backtrack, and once back in the carriage, Akira collapsed on the softest surface, pushing his mask off his face and covering his eyes. He was still shaking, feeling Arsene sit down next to him.

“Fucking hell.” He hissed. “Fucking hell. I wasn’t-” 

He hiccuped, feeling wetness on his palm despite himself. He stopped talking, biting his lip. He felt Arsene shift, his surroundings getting darker. Arsene grabbed his free hand to keep himself from breaking the skin on his leg.

“Breathe, love. Just breathe.” He murmured.

Akira curled up into a ball, feeling Arsene let go of his hand and wrap his arms around him tight. Akira blindly grabbed onto the edge of his coat, tugging hard. His heart was beating out of control, his head spinning violently. He was going to throw up, or at least come close to doing so.

“Lupin, what’s happening?” Johanna asked, muffled by Arsene’s body pressing down on him.

“Panic attack. Need a few minutes.”

The others were hurriedly and quietly discussing what to do now while Arsene pressed his face to his, humming soothingly as he rubbed his back. His arms eventually found their way around Arsene, taking deep breaths until he felt his heart even out. Arsene pulled back a little, wiping away some stray tears. Akira could see Arsene’s wings folded out around them, blocking him from seeing his friends.

“Okay?” He whispered.

“Okay.” Akira mumbled.

Arsene pulled away, Akira rubbing his eyes.

“I think we should go for today, dude.” 

“I’m okay. I’m good now. I can keep going.”

“Dude you just had a panic attack, not good.”

Akira sighed gently, still having an upset stomach and knowing Ryuji was right. 

“Okay. Tomorrow we really gotta make a lot more progress.”

“Got it.”

Once out in the real world, Akira thanked the stars that it was downpouring today. He slipped into the bath house, Morgana a few steps behind him. He sank into the water, feeling some of his sore spots lift.

_ “Are you alright dear?” _

_ I wasn’t supposed to know. I wasn’t supposed to- _

Akira had a coughing fit, turning his body so he was facing outside the bath in case he really did throw up. Once it passed, he slowly turned back around and pressed his back against the wall, trying to reorganize his thoughts.

_ This is starting to feel invasive… _

_ “All we can do now is push forward. It sounds like we don’t have much time until he figures it out.” _

_ I know. I just… none of the other palaces felt like this. _

_ “You never knew them as well as you did him.” _

_ I know. I feel guilty. It feels as if I’m going behind his back, Arsene. _

_ “Like you’re betraying his trust?” _

_ Yeah. I know I wanted to do this. I pushed everyone into doing this and now I’m having second thoughts. _

_ “We just have to forge ahead. We know stealing his Treasure would reform him.” _

Akira sank lower into the water, not deciding to continue this conversation. Arsene glared at the others to keep them in line, respectfully dropping the subject. Akira silently questioned if he was doing the right thing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akira is hardly able to catch a break sometimes.


	6. Strange Spaces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves investigate the practice field and the little building they saw from it, leading them to a seemingly abandoned part of the circus.

They managed to make it back to the place they were yesterday, Akira hesitating at the flap. His heart skipped a beat, knowing he could be back in this area again. He felt a skeletal hand pat him on the back, looking behind to see Captain Kidd behind him.

“If that rat dare shows ‘is face again, I’d be ‘appy to tear that disgustin’ scallywag apart for ya.” Kidd snarled.

Akira gave him a small grin, taking a deep breath before ducking under the flap. He paused, looking around for any sign of movement. Haru and Ryuji stepped out in front of him, Akira not seeing anything. 

“We’ve got you, young thief.” Milady murmured. 

The Thieves moved forward, his friends making sure to form a protective circle around Akira as they explored. The practice area was a lot larger than what they originally thought, several smaller paths weaving in and out to different areas of the circus. 

“Hey, chest over here. Let’s open it.” Ryuji called, waving him over. 

Akira happily picked the chest, Ryuji looking over his shoulder as he pulled out some dirtied up, unidentified and rusted armor pieces. He put those away, looking around more as they explored. He closed his eyes for a moment to open to see the blues, working his way in and out of the smaller tents. He wasn't picking anything up, switching back to normal sight.

"There isn't much here, is there?" Akira asked.

"No. We could go back in and swing over to that building beyond the fence." Makoto answered, standing up.

They left the area, Akira giving one more glance at the ring the shadow was in the day before. Of course, a shadow just so happened to block their path, triggering another fight. They got it over with as quickly as they could, The Thieves slipping back out into the center area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akechi tapped the end of his pencil against his mouth. Homework was not the thing he wanted to be doing right now. He didn't have the focus for it. Loki gave an annoyed sigh and shifted impatiently. Akechi remembered he did promise Loki a Mementos run yesterday and promptly forgot, too tired to go through with it.

"Give me a minute." He mumbled, dropping the pencil and stretching.

He slipped into more casual clothes so no one would stop and talk to him, making his way down to the station. The world slipped away, the metaverse rippling over and around him as he stepped down into the dark landing. The ripped cloak fluttered out behind him as he sprinted towards the first set of stairs and hopped down them. Loki perked up, excited as Akechi went deeper and deeper to hunt the stronger shadows. 

It was strange that it felt as if Robin Hood wasn't even there, even if he was in his other outfit. He knows he's there, in the back of his mind. He can feel him out in the real world. He pushed the thoughts away as another shadow was revealed, tensing for the fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They easily slip around the outside rings to the next opening in the tent, staying on the lookout for the return of Akechi’s shadow. They quickly duck in as they spot a large mass of shadows heading their way, hiding right around the corner. They stay very still as the shadows pass, not detecting them. They breathe a quiet sigh of relief before moving towards the lone building they saw from the practice field earlier. They make their way to the door, Akira putting his ear up to it to listen if there was someone behind it.

“Right, this might be where his shadow goes during the show. We should be extremely careful.” Makoto whispered. “Getting seen might mean game over for all of us.”

They spent several minutes walking towards it before realizing they weren't getting closer at all.

"Dammit, another trick." Ryuji growled under his breath.

"Why don't we try walking backwards?" Haru suggested.

They did so, but they weren't getting any closer that way either. 

“There has to be a trick to this.” Futaba muttered.

“We might have to go figure it out.” Akira said, turning back towards the tent. 

He led them back into the tent again, getting there with no problem this time. Akira jumped back, seeing Akechi’s shadow not too far away from them, the group standing perfectly still. He seemed very distracted, wringing his hands together as he moved off towards the practice field.

“Where the hell is Kurusu? His act’s up next and he better get his ass here on time or his tardiness will be the least of his problems.” The Ringmaster growled as he passed. 

The group seizes the opportunity to cross to another empty looking hallway close by, only breathing when they all turned the corner.

“That was too close for comfort.” Yusuke said.

“Yes, but where are we now?” Goemon asked. “It’s too quiet.”

They looked around, seeing none of the brightly colored concession stands or signs around to point them in different directions. Looking back, there was still a show going on, but despite just coming from that direction, they couldn't hear it. 

"Let's find out." Akira said, turning and continuing down the hallway.

~~~~~~~

Akechi slips into his apartment, sweaty and spent as he locks the door and leans against it. Loki is pleased, a cheerful hum coming from him as Akechi made his way to the bathroom. The shower water washed over him, Akechi cranking it up to its highest setting, closing his eyes and letting the burning water run over him. He could feel his connection to Robin Hood again, still silent, still faint, but no longer disconnected like they had been in Mementos. 

Once he was done, he hurriedly dried himself off and went to his room, noticing it was almost one in the morning. He grumbled about Loki keeping them out too late, Loki chuckling in response. He crawled into bed, forgetting the half done homework and just going to sleep.

~~~~~~~

It was a dull, empty hallway for the most part. Some tools lying about here and there, a few doorways that were boarded up. The Thieves pressed on, turning another corner and stopping. 

They came face to face with a large clown’s face, open mouthed, with what looked to be lights for eyes, the paint faded and chipping. Behind the face, what looked to be a two story house raised up on wheels, made of metal and painted in bright colors, dulled and weathered by time. Funhouse, the sign on the clown’s forehead said. A few boards looked to be nailed lazily across the top half of the clown’s mouth, but there was a light behind them, inviting them inside.

“This is pretty creepy.” Ann muttered. 

Akira moved towards it, reaching a hand out to the boards. They fell down at his touch, looking to have rotted away in a fraction of a second. He went in, finding a partly open door and pushed it fully open. 

“Hey, wait up!” Ryuji called to him, running over.

The rest follow him as Akira steps inside, moving up the bright pink metal steps and into the darkened corridor. He switched to Third Eye, the blue haze lighting up everything only just slightly. They hear the door slam shut, Akira losing sight immediately. 

“Uh uh uh, no cheating. Just have fun.” A staticky voice hissed above their heads, echoing throughout. 

They search around for the voice, not finding where it was coming from.

“Tell us you can see, Joker.” Futaba hissed.

“Not a damn thing, even with Third Eye.” 

“Dammit.”

“Language.” Makoto scolded.

“It’s not like we’d be able to get out, I’m sure that door’s locked like last time. Let’s just try and get through this as fast as we can.” Ann said. “I don’t like it in here.”

Akira nodded, leading the way. The front corridor ended at a small, square room with a bunch of distorting mirrors, lit by a singular old lightbulb slowly swinging from side to side. Their reflections were stretched and squashed, surrounding them as they looked for a way out. Someone squeaked, and Akira felt hands tug on his coat, freezing.

“I think I just saw my reflection blink.” Futaba whispered, Akira whipping his head around to where she was looking.

It seemed to be the most normal of the mirrors, but that might have been just how far away from it he was. The others had drawn away to where he was on the other side of the room, weapons out, paranoid. Akira took a step closer, feeling Futaba let go. His reflection mirrored his movements, Akira putting his hands in his pockets, observing. His reflection stared back at him, but slowly he heard water dripping down, Akira taking his eyes away for a second to locate the noise.

“Joker, he’s- your?!” Ann choked.

Akira whipped his eyes back to the mirror, finding the source of the dripping noise. Blood was running down from between his reflection’s eyes, covering his face completely, the expression turning from neutral to wild, teeth sharp and crooked, head tilted to one side. It took a step forward, the mirror wobbling like crazy. Akira jumped back as the glass shattered, an oozing, hulking monstrosity standing before him. Haru, Yusuke, and Makoto rushed to his side as Akira barely misses a swing and slips on some of the broken glass, hitting the floor. The blood splattered his clothes, getting up as Haru started hacking at with her axe. Yusuke helped by freezing different pieces of it for them to break off, slowly destroying the monster and reducing it to bits. Arsene slipped to his side, checking to see if he got cut on the glass.

“I'm okay." He mumbled, Arsene giving him space.

"There's a hall behind the mirror?" Ryuji said, stepping up into the frame.

They follow Ryuji inside it, being careful of the leftover glass on the frame. Ryuji opened the door, stepping down into the next room. Another small, square room, darker than the one before, but they could see something moving ahead of them, something with diagonal lines. They stayed still, but it didn't come towards them, just stayed in place. They inch forward cautiously, Ryuji putting his foot near one of the diagonal lines. He felt his foot move away from him, followed by the diagonal line and pulled back, wobbling on one foot a bit.

"It's just a moving floor." He muttered, stepping onto it. 

They watch him push through the diagonal lines, one by one following him to the other side. The next area was a smaller space, a small rectangle that they could barely all fit in, pressed against the back wall. Very steep steps were ahead of them, a series of open boxes. Akira went first, hitting the top of his foot a few times trying to climb up. He pressed off to the side, the landing thankfully bigger, offering a hand to the others if they needed it. Once up, Ryuji started in front again, stepping onto a long rectangular shape connecting their landing to another. Ryuji yelped as he suddenly lost his balance and gripped onto some railings, walking himself back to standing.

"Skull, you okay?" Akira asked.

"Rollers for a bridge? This place sucks."

"Y'know, this would be kinda fun if it wasn’t too dark to see and in someone’s Palace.” Haru said.

There were mixed muttered reactions from her statement as they carefully crossed the bridge. The next area they got through with relative ease, all thin connections from slightly bigger platforms to another, crossing over stagnant, murky water. The next room turned right, looking like an empty hallway. Akira gasped as part of the floor gave way under him suddenly, stopping just a few inches in the floor.

“...You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

He kept going, trying to ignore the annoying squeaks as the pieces of the floor “gave” under their weight, coming to the end. He yelped as a sudden jet of wind rushed up from under him, making a loud sound. 

“Fuck this.”

They turn another corner, coming to a door. Akira fiddled with the handle, making sure nothing was going to come out at them. He slowly opened the door, coming upon what looked like an ordinary, shitty apartment, spying a small kitchen and a couple of doors in the far back. An old, battered table sat in the middle, with two chairs barely holding together near it. In one of the chairs sat a slightly older child Akechi, quiet, face hiding behind his hair. He didn’t look much older than the version of him near the animals. This one looked to be wearing an elementary school uniform. Akira carefully moved over to him, stopping for a moment as he saw the cognition flinch. Akechi seemed to recognize him, relaxing a bit.

“Hey... Is something wrong buddy?” Akira murmured, kneeling in front of him. 

Akechi quickly turned his face away, but Akira could see he was on the verge of crying. His knuckles were white gripping his pants.

“She’s not waking up.” He whispered.

Akira’s stomach dropped. 

“Wh… what?”

“She’s not moving.” 

The red eyes flicked to one of the doors, Akira’s blood running cold. He glanced back at his friends, all equally as chilled to the bone.

_ Oh my god… He saw... _

“Are you… are you gonna be alright here?” 

Akechi rubbed at his eye, sniffing. 

“I dunno. I just want her to wake up.”

Akira offered his hand, not sure what else to do. Akechi regarded it, before pushing it away.

“Just leave me alone.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Go away.” He hissed.

Akira stood up, backing away. They silently crossed the room, not daring to make a sound. Once the door was closed behind him, they could hear the cognition burst into tears. Akira spun around and tried to open the door, finding it locked. He started digging a lockpick out, stopped by Zorro’s firm hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t. There’s nothing we can do.”

Akira shook himself free, huffing. He stood there for another minute before turning away. 

_ “I know dear, I know.”  _ Arsene whispered, helping him to regain some focus.

He lead the way again, the next few rooms weren’t bad, one with multiple moving conveyor belts, one that was essentially several bead curtains back to back to make moving quietly slightly inconvenient, and one where the floor was interconnected moving gears, being careful not to fall through the holes. A hallway comprised of a long moving cylinder was difficult, having to fight a few shadows inside it, struggling to keep their balance on the ever moving curved floor as they fought. It ended in a steep slide, bringing them back to the first floor. There were stairs to another door, that one locked. Akira turned his shoulder, being stopped by Ryuji.

"Dude, do not, your ribs." He scolded, pulling Akira behind him. "Let me do it."

Ryuji rammed his shoulder into the door until it broke open, Ann grabbing him by the collar before he fell down the rest of the stairs. Another small room, this time two raised buttons at the end, one green, one red. 

"Well, did you have fun?" The staticky voice hissed. "Green for yes, red for no."

"Will you let us go if we press the right one?"

"I will, if you're being honest about it."

Futaba quietly tapped away at her laptop, Akira's hand hovering over the green button.

"What's the hold up?" The voice demanded.

"How do we know you're being honest? That you'll actually let us go if we press the right button?"

"That's what trust is, isn't it?" The voice became a bit clearer, sounding like Akechi, but something deeper, familiar.

"Joker, don't. They're both rigged." Futaba whispered. 

"That's cheating." The voice hissed, back to being a high pitched staticky mess.

"You were the one who taught us to cheat, remember? To get through the casino."

"Because it wouldn't have been fair. We wouldn't have won and-"

"Trust goes both ways." Akira snapped back.

"You're still going to press it, aren't you?" Morgana asked.

Akira looked back and nodded, Futaba face palming.

"Joker, you can't. It's an obvious trap."

"You still trust him? After all that he’s done?" It slipped back into that deeper tone, genuine curiosity seeping through it.

"He is my friend. And I want to help him." Akira hissed, slamming the green button.

Everyone tensed up, preparing for shadows to show up or alarms to go off. It was quiet, Akira holding his breath. The door slowly swung open, nothing on the other side of it.

"Just… go. Get going." The voice was almost clear now, only a slight hiss, the deep tone sad sounding.

The static crackled itself out, a low buzz now. Everyone ran out, Akira lagging behind them.

"Save him, please." A whisper brushed past his ear, making him stop. 

The voice sounded so familiar and it was driving him crazy he couldn't place why it was. Arsene tugged at him, urging him to get out.

"I promise." He whispered back, not sure if he was meant to hear that or even answer.

Akira hurried out, leading them back down the hallway from where they came.

"Alright, now what?" Morgana asked.

"I think we should try that building again." Akira said, moving. "So let's go."

They made doubly sure the Ringmaster wasn't coming before slipping back to the closer opening. Akira could swear he felt eyes on him as they moved, the feeling going away once they were back outside the tent. They made another attempt to walk to the building, this time succeeding. Akira got the door open, creeping into the room. 

There was a desk shoved in the back left corner, some papers neatly stacked on it, the wood floor rough under their feet. A door in the back near the desk was only the other object they could see.

"This… must be his office, right?" Makoto asked.

They walked towards the door, finding it locked. Ryuji went through the desk, finding nothing in its drawers. He even lifted up the chair just in case the key was taped under it. Akira pulled out a lockpick, it immediately breaking in the door.

"Alright, it was worth a shot. Guess we gotta find that key."

They walk out of the office, and back to the tent. They saw the show area was pretty much empty on the ground floor, huddling up to discuss where that key would be.

"Oh, yoohoo!" a familiar voice called, pulling their attention up. "Looking for something?"

Cognitive Akira was sitting on a trapeze bar, dangling a ribbon below him, a key attached to the end of it.

"Come and get it." He snarled, yanking the ribbon up and tying it around his neck.

They watched him flip down, get momentum, and then jump from one trapeze to the next, occasionally being caught by a faceless acrobat before being tossed up higher. He climbed up onto the tight rope platforms far above them, disappearing from view.

"Bastard." Akira muttered.

"There's no way we're getting up there the same way." Makoto stated, with a pointed glance at their leader.

"Either way, we're gonna have to climb."

"We need to find another way around then." Haru said, looking around. "Where to first?" 

"Safe room. And from there, we can plan without being ambushed. Besides, I think I need a little break."

They started to make their way back to the carriage, glad to get out of the chaos for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, still here. Just got super busy and a little stuck. But funhouses are pretty cool.


	7. The Ringmaster's Favorite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves have a difficult confrontation with the cognition of their leader.

Akechi could’ve sworn it felt like something inside of him stirred. Loki was off to his own side, playing with his sword idly. It felt like it was coming from Robin Hood’s side.

_Robin Hood._

He was met with the usual silence, though this time it felt a smidgen warmer. He brushed it off as mere wishful thinking, concentrating on getting his homework done.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira put his head on Arsene's shoulder, trying to clear his thoughts a bit. Arsene gently scratched his scalp, Akira leaning into it. 

"There has to be a way up there without climbing." Morgana mused out loud, tapping his foot against the table he was standing on.

"There is going to be some climbing. We can't avoid it." Makoto said. "There's no real way to get up there without doing so."

"What we can do is find a way to climb less. Somehow…" Ryuji said, fiddling with his jacket.

Akira closed his eyes, getting sleepy from Arsene's warmth. His wing pressed tighter against him, wrapping him up.

"You sure you feel good enough to keep going, dear?" Arsene whispered.

"I'll be fine after some rest. Maybe after some coffee too if we still have some."

"Dear…"

"Mhm, injuries, I know. I'm resting right now."

Arsene sighed quietly, dropping the subject. 

"If only we had a map." Yusuke muttered.

Akira decided he had enough rest, getting up, Arsene following suit. 

"If we can get to the pole he ended up on, I think that's all the climbing we would need to do." He said, stretching.

"Well, lead the way."

Akira nodded, stepping outside of the safe room. He led the way to the pole his cognitive twin stopped on, the floor empty. Rungs went all the way up the pole, ending at the topmost platform. They slowly made their way up, Akira pushing through his pain to keep going. They had to jump a few shadows on a few different platforms so they didn't get knocked to the ground. They finally made it to the top, Ryuji getting up after Akira and offering help to the rest of them up.

"There's the rat." Kidd growled.

Cognitive Akira watched them, one hand on a trapeze bar, the key still around his neck. He made a noise of disgust, letting go of the bar.

"How unfortunate, you made your way up here. Thought you wouldn't be able to with the dead weight in the shape of your leader."

"Shut the hell up." Ryuji snarled. "The only dead weight here is you!"

"Give us that key." Haru growled.

"I told you to come and get it." The Acrobat snapped.

The cognition burst into shadow, reforming into a large demonic creature. Wings like Arsene's, red-tipped black ram horns, taloned bird legs, sharp clawed hands and a whip like tail ending with peacock feathers appeared as the cognition took on its true form. It opened all six of its serpentlike eyes, giving them a death glare. The handle of a whip was in one hand while the other held a jagged bladed sword.

"You're not taking him away from me!" The shadow snarled, knocking them off balance as it lifted off with one powerful thrust of its wings.

The cognition flew around the edge of the platform, making it difficult to even just hit it. It cracked the whip handle towards Morgana, electricity slamming into the cat and throwing him to the ground. Ann tried to get close to it on one of the few times the shadow landed, slashing at her with the sword, Ann yelping as ice burst from the jagged blade. Yusuke ran in to try and help cover her, but the shadow breathed a wall of fire in between him and it before taking off again. 

“Oracle, anything? Anything at all?” Ryuji shouted, being knocked to the floor by a huge gust of wind from its wings right after he finished.

“This thing doesn’t have any weaknesses.” Futaba hissed. “I’m gonna try to give you a buff, give me a few minutes if you can.”

Akira pulled Ryuji up before charging at the thing, rapidly switching masks. Akira threw a strong bless attack at it, not even making the shadow wince. Another powerful thrust sent it upwards, before the shadow dove at the platform. Akira ducked, feeling its talons just graze his back. He turned just in time to see the shadow headbutt into Necronomicon, throwing them off balance and making Futaba yelp.

“Oracle!” Akira shouted, throwing another bless attack at it. 

The shadow swiftly dodged it with a hairpin turn, sweeping over them for its next target.

“I’m fine, we’re fine!” Futaba reassured, righting Necro quickly. 

Akira pulled Haru down as the shadow dove at them again, both hitting the floor.

“There has to be something we can do.” Makoto said as her and Johanna came to a stop as they got too close to an edge.

The shadow dove at her, trying to knock them off the platform, but Makoto got away just in time with the help of a burst of wind from Zorro to knock the shadow off course. Haru and Akira quickly jumped back up, getting back in the fight. Akira started flipping through masks again, trying to figure out something. He switched to one he didn’t use much, having an idea. The shadow came back into view at eye level, circling again. Akira dashed forward, raising his arm as Trumpeter floats into being behind him.

“Debilitate!”

The power washed over the shadow, the shadow being slowed down.

“You little-!” It snarled, diving at him once again.

Haru took her chance, slamming her axe into the creature’s chest and sending it sprawling onto its back. The Thieves quickly surrounded it, doing an all-out attack, not even giving it a chance to talk. The shadow growled, flying back into the air, knocking them back on the take off. 

“Cheater.” It hissed. “You’ll pay for that.”

"We don't have too long before that wears off. Let's go."

They kept at it, trading blows as much as they possibly could with the shadow, it getting harder as it caught on to their different strategies. They watched as the creature stopped and hovered in place, crossing its weapons over its chest.

"It stopped??" Ryuji asked.

"Then let's hit it while we have a chance!" Haru yelled, Milady releasing a strong psy attack at the creature.

Its body jerked backwards slightly as the spell hit it, but it didn't seem to be damaged. It opened its eyes, which were now glowing, and scanned over them. It pulled its arms back and threw them forward towards Makoto, a ball of energy hitting her square in the chest. Makoto yelped and hit the ground, stunned. It spun around cracked the lightning whip at Haru, just missing as she jumped out of the way in time.

"It used Noir's attack against us!" Futaba called out. "If it does that again, don't hit it!"

The shadow quickly countered Yusuke jumping at it with a stream of fire, knocking him down to the ground. It kept going like this, the Thieves soon not able to hit it, the shadow countering and dodging them. A lot of Akira's friends were looking rough. He had an idea to keep the attention off of them.

"So what are you going to do when he finally rejects you?"

His cognitive twin whipped around and gave him a deadly glare.

"What the hell are you talking about?? I'm his favorite! Favorite! He'd never replace me!"

"Until he realizes I'm here. The real deal. You think he'd be able to stand a fake knowing he could have the real thing?"

The cognition's eyes widened all at once.

"No! He- he wouldn't! You're lying! You don't know him!"

"God, look at me. I'm better in every conceivable way. He wouldn't have to look at a monster like you."

The cognition growled, becoming higher and higher until it became an angry howl and it took off towards him.

"Fake! Deceiver! Bastard! I'll END you!"

There was one major flaw in his plan Akira had forgotten to account for. And that was the fact that he was now hurtling off the edge after being tackled by his cognitive double, who he just remembered had wings. 

"Joker!" His teammates screamed above him.

Arsene was frantically diving for him, just as he frantically trying to grab something, anything on his way down. The cognition slammed into Arsene and dragged him back up to the platform, slamming him down on it.

"Now that he's out of the way, it’s time to take care of the rest of you!" 

Akira managed to grab a tightrope far, far down from where they were, yelping as the pain of being tackled caught up to him. His head was spinning, trying to come back from the rush of falling towards the ground. He saw a blurry vision of Yusuke, trying to pull himself up on the rope.

“Yusuke, please. Help me up.” He hissed.

“Sorry, aren’t you supposed to be the best there is? Do it yourself.” The blue haired cognition said coldly.

Akira was struggling to at least wrap his legs around the rope too, the pain in his chest coming back full force.

 _"I'll be right there Akira! Hold on!"_ Arsene shouted.

Arsene tried again as the shadow’s back was turned fighting Captain Kidd and Carmen, getting to the edge before he felt a painful shock wrap around his leg and slam him to the ground.

“And _where_ do you think _you’re_ going?” His cognitive master snarled as it yanked him back towards it.

Arsene threw a curse spell at the shadow, it not flinching in the slightest. Goemon slashed at the whip, interrupting it and freeing Arsene. 

“Go! We’ll cover you!” 

Arsene took off and dove, the whip cracking over his heel and just missing him. He scooped up Akira, holding him tight to his chest as he pulled up at the last second before they hit the ground. 

“Arsene, my chest.” Akira whined, Arsene seeing he was in a lot of pain.

“Sorry dear, try to bear it for a few moments more.” 

Arsene crossed the threshold, and immediately had to swerve out of the way of another lunge, the shadow furious.

“Still alive?! _Fine._ It’d be more satisfying to rip you apart myself.” It snarled.

They were flying around at high speeds, the shadow steadily gaining on them. 

“Alright, attack up for you all! C’mon, let’s hit this thing where it hurts!” Futaba shouted.

“You do not get to hurt my friend’s protege with impunity!” Milady snapped, slamming it with a psy attack.

The shadow yelped, dazed and flying in place. Arsene quickly landed, body curled over Akira as Captain Kidd release a lightning attack at it, knocking it down to the platform. Arsene let Akira roll out of his arms, the two of them joining the all-out attack quickly. The shadow hissed at them, taking to the air.

“That is it! I’ve had enough of you!” 

The shadow circled again, this time breathing fire over most of the platform, separating them from each other. Akira clutched his chest, keeping an eye on the creature as he tried to ignore his pain. He felt seriously drained all of a sudden, Arsene humming a quick apology. He could hear his friends trying to douse the fires any way they could. 

“Joker, you okay?” Ryuji called over the roaring flames. 

He didn’t respond, trying to keep an eye on the blur that was his cognitive double. He spun around, dagger raised to protect himself as he thought he saw the creature behind him, a weight tackling him to the ground onto his stomach. The talons dug into his skin, the shadow pinning him there so he couldn’t summon.

“Ooh, I see what’s going on here, why you so brazenly attacked me earlier. You’re jealous.”

“Jealous? Jealous of what?” Akira spat, struggling to get free. 

“Me and the Ringmaster of course. You didn’t like me telling the _truth_ about him, so you attacked me.” It hissed, the claws raking down his back. 

“You were insulting him!” Akira snapped back. “He is just my friend.”

“Doesn’t sound like _just_ a friend to me~ Sounds like jealousy~” 

Akira yelped as the shadow pulled a hand back and slashed across his back. Whatever it had put on its claws was dripping into his wounds, making him dizzy. A sizzle and a yelp as ice sprayed into the shadow’s back, the weight lifting off of him. Yusuke helped him up, looking over him in concern.

“Panther, over here!” He called to Ann.

Yusuke carefully hands him off to Ann, running back in to help Makoto with fighting the shadow, clearing some flames in the process. Ann heals him, offering support as he started standing back up again.

“You okay? I’m not sure what it did to you, but you aren’t looking great.”

“Yeah I don’t know either, I’ll probably be fine in a few moments when it wears off. One moment.” Akira mumbled, switching back to Trumpeter again. “Debilitate!” 

The shadow hissed at him, giving him another death glare. It jumped off, hiding from view, still hearing an occasional flap of its wings. Akira stumbled onto a knee, feeling searing pain from where the liquid dripped onto him earlier. 

"Joker's been hit with some sort of weaken effect, be careful guys." Futaba said.

The shadow crested over the platform again, perching on the edge near Haru. It blew a kiss, a weird pink smoke coming from its mouth, making Haru cough. It fell back off the platform and started circling them, smirking as Haru turned around and threw a psy attack at Morgana.

"Hey! We're on your side!" Morgana yelped, dodging just in time.

"Shit, we have to snap her outta whatever that thing did!" Ryuji shouted.

The shadow took the chance to dive at Ryuji, slashing his side. It quickly flew out of melee range, taking a moment to pick out its next target. It left a few splatters of some sort of green liquid, the same stuff dripping off its claws. Ryuji swayed a little on his feet.

"I'm going to kill you for hurting my best friend." Ryuji growled at it, hurling lightning at it.

It singed the shadow's wing, the shadow ducking below the platform with a scowl. Makoto was helping Morgana to fight off Haru, still under the shadow's charm. Akira felt the pain dull after several minutes, getting back on his feet. He dug through his pockets for status healing items, finding a couple. He threw one at Haru's feet, giving Ryuji the other one as she shook her head clear.

"Oooh, I hate that thing!" She hissed.

"What about you?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm fine, it went away, now come on, we gotta take this thing down."

Ryuji looked doubtful, but dropped it, focusing on the task at hand. They kept fighting it, a little better coordinated this time, more cautious. The shadow seemed to be wearing down, its expression angrier by the minute. It became more aggressive in its attacks, forcing them to be less conservative, trying to get them to attack more.

"Why are you so insistent on changing him against his will? You're no better than anyone else corrupt in the world."

"We're trying to help him!"

"No, you're changing him to be someone _you_ want, by force. Forcing your will on people isn't just."

"And like what he does is?!" Haru snapped at it. "Working with the corrupt, and pinning us for something we didn't do for them?"

"You're still yourselves, aren't you? Besides, you don't see the bigger picture. I doubt you ever will."

The shadow released a burst of strong, almighty energy, knocking them all to the ground. They scrambled to their feet, grouping up again. 

"Whatever, you're going to be gone anyway. We don't have to listen to you." Akira growled.

"You're only saying that because you know I'm right."

"No you aren't!" 

Akira hit him again with Trumpeter right as Futaba powered them all up again, Ryuji and Kidd landing a big blow on the shadow and bringing it down to the floor. They surrounded it, the shadow glaring at them all.

"Any last words?" 

"I can't wait to see you die for the unjustified beliefs you hold dear by his hands."

They did one last all-out attack, watching the shadow try to get back up afterwards. It collapsed, melting back into shadow before disappearing completely. They were all panting heavily, Akira picking up the key that the shadow had dropped.

"Safe room?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah." Akira said.

Climbing back down was a lot easier without any shadows trying to block their path. As soon as they were back in the safe room, Arsene gripped his arm hard. Akira turned to see a stern look on his face.

“No more Palace for today, or tomorrow. You need the rest.” 

“But-”

“You fell off a tightrope platform and barely held onto a tightrope. You were whining about your chest when I was carrying you back up. Let’s go. You need rest and you need it now.”

Akira’s face was burning red, hanging his head in shame.

“Yeah dude, seriously. You could’ve broken something else back there.” Ryuji crossed his arms over his chest with a hard look.

Akira wanted to protest, but he knew they were right. He didn't have much energy anyway, and he could see everyone else was about the same.

“…Let's get out of here.”

They left the Palace, saying goodnight to each other. Akira fell onto his bed as soon as he got upstairs, hoping the painkillers kicked in soon so he could sleep. Morgana settled by his head, curled into a ball.

 _"Don't do anything tomorrow, okay? You need rest."_ Arsene reminded him.

_Okay. I won't._

Despite his exhaustion, he still wrestled with falling asleep. The cognition's face, _his_ face, haunted him, its words digging up more doubt on their good intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Fight scenes are hard, especially big tough mini-bosses. At least they got the satisfaction Cognitive Akira won't be back anytime soon, thanks to them.


	8. Struggling Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being temporarily banned from Palace Infiltration leads to Akira getting some much needed stuff done.

Akechi found himself in a cold room. Not the lodge, no, the room he killed Kurusu in about a week ago. He went to leave, slightly disgusted that he would end up here again, finding there was no door. He clenched his white gloved fist by his side, annoyed now. He wasn’t aware he’d gotten into in his Crow outfit, glancing over himself.

“New costume,lover? It suits you.” A certain someone’s voice purred behind him, sultry.

He whipped around to see a smug Kurusu, eyes currently hidden by his messy black hair, feet up on the table.

“What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead.” 

Kurusu moved, feet loud on the floor as he sat up, head placed in his hand. The sharp teeth and the bright gold eyes gave him away to be the illusion he was, Akechi blinking in surprise. The absolutely smitten look he was being given made him hot and uncomfortable. 

“Perhaps. But we are finally alone, isn’t that wonderful?”

Akechi saw he wasn’t wearing his school uniform either as Kurusu stood up. Instead, he was wearing some sort of sparkly leotard, and nothing else. Akechi flushed red, covering his mouth with his hand, realizing he was maskless. Kurusu moved towards him slowly, the biggest smile on his face. Akechi backed up into the wall, effectively cornered as Kurusu placed his arms lightly on his shoulders. His face was pressed dangerously close to his, lips hovering above his own.

“Come now, sir, please don’t act like that. We’re away from prying eyes. You don’t have to put up this act.” A soft whisper, full of longing and desire.

_Sir?_

Akechi took a full minute or two to process what was going on, emotions cycling through him very quickly before finally settling on denial.

“No, no no no. You’re dead, you… you’re not alive, you’re not supposed to _be here_.” 

Kurusu pulled back, his eyes becoming icy at the edges. He looked disappointed, the hands slipping off his shoulders. He mouthed something that looked like “of course”, a flicker of anger going through his eyes. He watched Kurusu sigh, letting go and stepping away.

“Yeah, well, neither are you.”   


Akechi woke up, breathing a bit ragged, wide eyed, almost like waking up from a nightmare. He got up, going to get a glass of water from the kitchen. The searing gold eyes, the sharp toothed grin, his outfit, all worked to haunt the back of his sluggish mind as he fumbled through pouring himself water into a glass, spilling some on his hand.

_What the hell?_

He stared into his sink, trying to come up with an explanation. 

_It’s just a stupid dream. Dreams are made up of places and people we’ve seen before, taking the images from our subconscious and putting them together. I’ve seen Kurusu and I’ve been in that room, together, with him but only to kill him. Right?_

Something wasn’t quite adding up. 

_But I’ve never seen him in anything more than his Metaverse outfit, his work clothes and his school uniform. And his eyes are grey, not gold. His teeth aren’t that sharp the last time I checked. He’s never called me sir. And… the dream made him have feelings for me… but why? I don’t…_

His train of thought veered off the tracks there, slamming his glass onto the counter next to him. 

_No. No no no. I don’t… stupid fucking dream. He’s criminal trash._ Dead _criminal trash. No feelings like that for him whatsoever, and the feeling is mutual for him too._

Akechi’s thoughts lingered on the gold eyes after he was done with his little sidetracking. 

_Those are only reserved for shadows, so why would he have gold eyes? None of them are able to form palaces, are they?_

He went back to his room to remove his phone from its charger, bringing it back to the kitchen so he could finish his water. He pulled up the Metaverse app, the red eye leering at him in the darkness of his apartment.

“Kurusu Akira of the Phantom Thieves.” He whispered into his phone.

“No matches found.” The phone chirped at him. 

He wondered why he did that at all. He knows people with personas can’t have manifestations. Besides, Kurusu was dead. Just his dream making weird images. He sighed, closing the app. He drank the rest of his water, going back to bed.

_Just a dream. Just a stupid, ridiculous dream._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira groaned, his eyelids heavy as he rolled onto his left side. He was awake, regrettably, but he's not even sure what time it was. Considering it was still dark, probably very early. Arsene hadn't stirred yet either, Akira struggling to sit up. He stumbled downstairs, confirming it was still too early as it was too dark to see outside. He went back up after his bathroom trip, settling back into bed. He stared at the ceiling, finding it too difficult to fall asleep again. 

_Arsene?_

Arsene gently stirred.

_"Can't sleep?"_

_Yeah. I want to visit._

_"You don't need my permission, dear."_

Akira breathed slowly, closing his eyes. Several minutes later he was able to feel Arsene's embrace, opening his eyes again. He was laying on Arsene's chest, wings gently folded under his back. 

"Doesn't that hurt?" 

Arsene shook his head, shifting a little.

"I'll be alright. Is something preventing you from sleeping?"

"Just can't stop thinking about that other me. What it said."

He felt a hand rub little circles on his back, exhaling slowly.

"And I'm sorry about yelling at you. But this… he's important to me. I…"

"I know. I know you're in love with him still. You shouldn't work yourself to death over anyone, though." Arsene murmured, cupping his face.

"I want to help, but…" Akira tried to figure out how to say it. "He won't be the same once we steal his heart. I'm scared we'll change him too much. I know it's too late to change plans now, but I… guess I'm having some doubts."

"I see…" Arsene shifted again, sitting up with him in his lap. "Why are you allowing a twisted version of you give you doubts?"

"It's… it's not just him. It was earlier. I just- I know this was my idea, I shouldn't be having doubts, just… the deeper we go, the more guilty I feel about this."

Arsene hummed, not sure what to say. Akira sighed, flopping against him. Arsene curled around him more, thinking deeply. Seemed like Arsene didn’t have any advice to give for the first time since they’ve made the contract. He seemed really tired. Akira figured maybe a change in subject would help.

"Hey, did that voice from the funhouse sound familiar to you, Arsene?"

"It did. Why?"

"Really? What did it sound like? I couldn't figure it out earlier. It’s driving me crazy."

Arsene got uncharacteristically tense.

"It, well, take this with a grain of salt, but it sounded like Robin Hood, almost."

"Robin Hood? He barely talked. I've maybe heard him once. How would…?" Akira's eyes widened, connecting the dots. "Is that where you went in the casino?"

Arsene exhaled, leaning back into the couch. 

"I did go talk to him, all those times I was gone. Seemed to be the only way he would talk, being away from everyone. I should've told you earlier, but I'm sure you would've acted differently around them if you knew."

"Arsene."

"I hate not being honest with you, but it felt like those little moments we spent together would've ceased happening. He seemed happier during those moments we shared."

Akira was looking at him in disbelief.

"Crow and you are friends. Naturally, Robin and I would be friends too."

It was quiet for a moment or two. Akira mulled it over, feeling a bit awkward he doubted his own persona.

"Sorry for prying." Akira mumbled. 

"You asked for an explanation and I gave you one. You weren't prying. Besides, I doubt that was actually Robin. Maybe just a close imitation of it. It is a twisted manifestation of his subconscious desire, after all. Perhaps it’s because Robin is his heart that it would sound like him."

Akira snuggled closer to him. Arsene hugged him, stretching out his wings as he leaned forward.

"Perhaps you need to have a talk with your oldest friends, Mona, Panther and Skull, hm? Maybe they can help."

"Maybe. You wanna talk to Zorro, Kidd and Carmen?"

"I do."

"I'll text them when I wake up again."

~~~~~~~~~

Mementos formed around them, Akira giving Caroline a nod as they passed her. The four of them stepped down to the first floor, sitting on one of the benches. Arsene slipped out, the other three joining him elsewhere. 

"What's the deal, Lupin? Joker said you wanted to talk to us." Carmen asked, sitting on the edge of a bench, one leg over the other.

Arsene straightened up under their concerned stares when he didn't say anything for a minute or two.

"I'm sure you'll be notified by your users shortly, but Akira is having a bit of difficulty keeping his conviction. I'm not sure what to say to him to convince him his conviction is right."

The three pause to listen in to the conversation between their users, having a spark of understanding.

"Too much guilt, then?" Zorro asked.

"Yes. Crow and him were much closer than he was to the other palace users, though I'm certain Queen might've felt the same way about the casino. But, she is not as close as the three of your other selves are to him, which is why I asked."

"And yer certain he'd be the same way if it was one o' us?" Kidd asked.

"Of course. You are our good friends. It seems like that cognition of him got to him more than he let on."

"That bastard gave 'im a panic attack. O' course he ain't gonna feel good about it."

Arsene sighed quietly.

"He needs some way to recement his original conviction, the one when he made the contract with you, correct?" Zorro asked.

"The threat of death by Crow's hands if we fail is on his mind, but he's pushing himself too much, too fast. You all saw what happened. I’m worried it’s getting to the point of self destruction."

"Yeah, Ryuji was worried 'bout 'im in that fight."

"Yeah, was the boy _trying_ to get killed? Taunting it like that was a bad move." Zorro said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know. I know. But I can't make decisions for him. Just need some advice on clearing a bit of this hindering guilt from him."

Arsene plopped down on an empty bench, head in his hands. Carmen stole some hard glances at him while they talked it out, Arsene giving her a confused look every time he caught her eye. 

"Seems like our masters have come to some sort of understanding." Zorro announced suddenly, looking back towards the Thieves. 

"Seems so. Thank you all. The two of us have much to think about."

The four of them stood up to rejoin their users, Arsene getting stopped. He turned to see Carmen holding his arm, staring at him.

"Yes?"

"You have a crush on Hood." She whispered after the other two were long gone.

"I-" Arsene was so startled he ripped his arm away. "Don't be ridiculous Carmen, I don't-"

"You know you can't hide that sort of thing from me, Arsene." She said sharply.

He was in shock for a moment before hiding his face in embarrassment.

"I won't even tell my little lady, because I'm assuming you haven't told him either."

"No." He admitted. "It's complicated. Carmen, please understand-"

"Feelings for one who betrayed us is always going to be complex." Carmen interrupted, crossing her fingers. "I promise I won't say anything about it. It was only really obvious to me."

"Thank you."

She tugged his coat as she passed by, smirking. She tapped the little hearts on the shoulder of his jacket, leaning in close.

"Remember, you wear your heart on your sleeve, mama bird."

"Haha, very funny." Arsene rolled his eyes, following her back.

Carmen stopped, turning and touching his shoulder again.

"Seriously, I may tease, but I'm not one to gossip about matters of the heart. Know that much."

"I'll keep it in mind. Just not sure if my feelings would be as strong or even there if I see him again."

"Understandable. Take your time. Seriously, you might molt with all the stress you carry."

Arsene snorted, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah."

They go back to their users, watching as they leave Mementos once again.

~~~~~~~

Akira was sore everywhere. He was almost grateful he woke up early to go to the bathroom beforehand. Despite being in and out of a restless sleep all day, he did feel much better. Talking to Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana helped him feel less guilty about this whole thing, at least for the time being. Being forbidden from the Palace made him free and able to cross other things off his to-do list, like obtain more medicines, return that dvd, and make some more curry and coffee for their Metaverse trips.

“Akira, you really shouldn’t be out of bed.” Sojiro gently scolded, stealing the curry spoon from him. 

“But Boss…” He started whining.

“Look, I’ll finish cooking this. Go to bed. You need rest.”

Akira started to protest, but Sojiro gave him a disappointed look until he retreated upstairs. He laid down on his bed, immediately feeling less sore. He felt the bed dip as Morgana jumped up, settling by his shoulder.

“Though you should’ve been resting all day, it is nice to have time to prepare for our next leg of our infiltration.” Morgana chirped.

“Yeah. Nice to be able to do that. Worry less about having enough this time around, hopefully.”

“What do you think we’ll find in the office?”

“I don’t know. I kinda… don’t really wanna think about it right now, to be honest.”

“Okay. I think we’re close to the Treasure. I can feel it in my gut.”

Akira’s face dropped for a second, masking it by coughing into the crook of his elbow. 

“Oof, still sounds terrible.” 

“It’s part of how I can make sure my ribs will heal correctly. I know it does sound gross though.”

Morgana decided it was a good idea to shut up now, laying his head on Akira’s shoulder.

_This is the one time I feel horrible about stealing a Treasure._

Akira idly petted him, staring at the ceiling until he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll maybe have Akechi's Palace will be wrapped up in the next two chapters, but we'll see.


	9. The Back Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves find out what's behind the locked door in the office.

Akira paused on his way home, tugging uncomfortably at his school uniform, the one his parents kept forcing him into. Seems he luckily brought his pants and already changed. His parents weren't going to be home until later anyway, he had plenty of time to change before they came back. He might even be alone for dinner again. Akira turned the corner, stopping in confusion. 

Akechi is standing on the bridge, back to him, staring into the water. He was wearing a similar uniform, but it seemed off in some way. Akira made his way over to him, leaning over the railing to look at his face. He seemed contemplative, fidgeting with his gloves.

"Akechi?" 

"Hm? Did you need something Kurusu?"

_ Why are you here? _

"Surprised to see you again so soon. Wanna go get something with me? My treat."

Akechi said nothing, but followed him as Akira walked down to the little corner store. It was much emptier than usual, Akira perusing the candy section.

"There's not a lot, so sorry." 

Akechi didn't say anything, Akira just picking out a bunch of candies and paying for them. They walked out, sitting on a bench, Akira opening some candy. Akechi scoffed quietly, leaning back on the bench.

"You'll spoil your dinner."

"Like you're much better. Besides, I'll be alone again for dinner. I don't care."

It was quiet for a few moments, Akira eating his candy.

"Why won't you tell me?"

Akira coughed.

"Tell you what?"

Akechi touched his forehead, his hand pulling away with blood. Akira paled. The smile turned malicious as he wiped the blood onto his own face. Akechi grabbed his neck, Akira struggling to get away.

"Why you still want this?"    
  


Akira woke up, his heart racing, checking his forehead. Clean. Just sweaty. He sat up, looking for his phone. 3 am.

_ Fucking hell. _

Akira fell back onto the bed, panting. Morgana was in a deep sleep, considering he hadn't checked on him or moved.

_ "Kira? Are you all right?"  _

Akira felt a bit warmer hearing the nickname, working to slow down his breathing. He reached for the glass he kept nearby, finding it empty. He sighed, getting up to get more water. He drank the whole glass in one go, filling it up again.

_ Just a bad dream, Arsene.  _

_ "Do you want to talk about it?" _

Akira was halfway upstairs, stopping.

_ I just don't miss home, I guess. That's all. _

Arsene humned in acknowledgment, saying nothing. Akira got back into bed, drinking more water.

_ "Still sore?" _

_ Yeah, a little. Just need more sleep. _

_ “Okay. Call for me if you need me.” _

Akira put his glass down and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He pulled as much of the blanket over him as he could without waking Morgana, hoping maybe the blanket would help him fall asleep a little faster. He suddenly remembered something he wanted to ask earlier that he forgot.

_ Arsene? Are you okay? You sound really tired lately. _

He felt Arsene fidget a little before resettling.

_ “Lots of worrying to do lately. Over you, over the others.” _

_ Arsene… _

_ “I know, you’re not a baby. I just don’t want to lose you, love. You ask me to worry less and I cannot find it in me to. Especially since-” _

_ The casino. Akechi’s plan. _ Akira finished for him, rubbing his eyes.  _ I need to be more careful in his Palace. I understand that now. _

_ “That’s not what I meant, dear. I worry as much as you do, perhaps a touch more for you.” _

_ I know.  _ Akira said, falling into a long silence.  _ Thank you, Arsene. _

Akira closed his eyes, knowing if he couldn’t actually sleep, then resting his eyes would have to be good enough. 

Someone was talking to him, a pressure on his shoulder shaking his whole body. Akira blearily blinked at the shape looming over him.

“Wha? Who?” He mumbled.

“Dude, wake up, it’s after five.” Ryuji said.

“In the mornin’?” He slurred as he felt around for his glasses.

“No, at night. You okay to go?”

“Yeah? Gimme a minute.”

His body really didn’t wanna get up, but he needed to stretch. He grumbled a little, some of his joints protesting more than others.

“Do you wanna see the doc or somethin’?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Akira.”

“I got rest. I’ll be okay.”

Akira took some more painkillers as they discussed the next steps they were going to take. 

"Ready to go, Akira?"

"Yup."

~~~~~~~~~

Something was off.

Akechi mulled over that feeling as he went through the motions of school, brushing off the more persistent classmates as he went to go somewhere quiet for free period. Once in the library, he spread a bunch of tough looking, but finished cases in front of him to get people to leave him alone. He held a pencil over one of the papers, rocking it between his fingers in a way that it wasn’t quite tapping it against the table, but easily could. 

_ “I know that look. What is it?”  _ Loki asked, tilting his head.

_ I don’t know. I don’t like the feeling though. _

_ “Still thinking about our resident brat?” _

_ No. I’m past that. Just an odd feeling. _

The two of them quietly pondered on it before Akechi had to go back to class. He was chewing on it in the back of his mind still, barely paying attention. 

~~~~~~~~~

The performance area was oddly quiet as they made their way back to the office. None of the shadow performers could be seen, not even their cognitive selves. 

“I don’t like this quiet.” Futaba muttered.

“Let’s just get to his office as quickly as possible while we have a moment of peace.”

They made their way unhindered around the edge of the performance area, making sure they weren’t walking into an ambush. They cross the field, still not coming across any shadows. 

They paused, listening for any signs of movement on the other side of the office door before Akira counted down silently and opened it. The key he removed from his pocket, unlocking the door with it, and keeping his hand on the handle.

"We should be careful here. I can feel the Treasure on the other side of the door." Morgana whispered.

Akira nodded and opened it, tensing for what could be inside. 

On the other side, a small room, much worse for wear than the apartment they saw earlier, dirty and unkempt. A small bed was shoved in one corner, with a little desk in another corner. A small door sat crooked and open, Akira assuming some sort of closet. The one, singular window in the room was barred, light barely getting in at all. 

They carefully move in, Ryuji kicking over something by accident as there wasn't much space for all of them. He picked it up, turning it around in his hands.

"Looks like one of your little Featherman dolls, Oracle."

Futaba squeezed her way over, excited.

"Hey, this is one of the older ones. I think it's supposed to be Red, but… huh…"

She snatched it out of his hands, examining it.

"It kinda looks like his persona."

She turned around and held it aloft to show the others. The small door swung open, a small child jumping up for the toy.

"Hey, that's mine!" The little Akechi said, struggling to reach it.

He looked like was about ten, ignoring them after Futaba gave him the toy back, inspecting it frantically. He was clutching it to his chest, backing away into the closet, looking at them suspiciously.

"Did he send you?"

"The Ringmaster? No. Is something wrong?"

He just stared at them before going back to fiddle with his toy. Akira knelt down, watching him carefully.

_ "This room looks like a cage."  _ Arsene muttered.

Akira glanced around again, noticing how dingy, dark and depressing it was.

"Tell me about your Featherman. He's cool looking, I've never seen a white one before." Futaba offered.

His eyes lit up, holding it up to her face as much as he could reach.

"Isn't he the coolest?? I made him myself! He's a big fighter for justice everywhere, just like Red is! He makes super sure the bad guys get what they deserve!" Then his face falls, looking wistful and sad. "But… that's not how justice works in the real world…"

He clutches the toy to his chest again. They all exchange a look, Akira and Ryuji reaching out to comfort him. He flinched away from them, looking scared. They both retracted their hands, apologetic.

"You shouldn't be here." Akechi mumbled, then louder. "He's coming. You need to hide."

"Shit." Ann hissed, shutting the door.

The thieves scramble to find good hiding spots, Akira and Yusuke ending up pressed chest to chest together awkwardly under the bed. They watch Akechi sit down on the floor, half-heartedly playing with his toy. From their various hiding spots they hear footsteps, the door open, and see the Ringmaster's feet come into view. Akira sees Akechi glare at the shadow as it moves across the room.

"I have food for you." The Ringmaster said in a softer voice than usual, hearing him put a plate down.

"I don't want it."

"You never want anything." 

"I want to leave!"

"I can't let you do that."

"Then let me see one of your shows!"

"I can’t do that either, I’m sorry. I'm trying to protect you."

"From what? Your stupid  _ boyfriend _ ?"

They hear Akechi's shadow make a noise of disgust.

"Kurusu is not my boyfriend. He doesn't mean anything to me." 

"Liar."

They hear a deep, aggravated sigh. A tense silence followed, the Ringmaster crouching down in front of his child self.

"You're very bad at hiding things, you know."

"What?"

"I know they're here."

"No one is here. It's just me."

“Then how do you explain this?” He said, holding up a piece of the lockpick Akira broke in the door in front of his face.

_ Fuck. _

“It’s mine.”

“I know it isn’t. Where are they?”

“It’s mine! I want to leave and you keep that stupid door locked!”

“To protect you from  _ him _ . I don’t want him to steal  _ you  _ from me too _. _ ”

“You don’t care about me! If you actually cared you’d let me out!” 

“It’s not safe for you out there.”

“So just leave me alone!”

“Tch, fine.” 

They watch with bated breath as the Ringmaster gets up, dropping the piece of lockpick on the floor. He pauses at the door, the knob turning. 

“Oh, and little Phantom Thieves? I do hope you put on a good show for me.” 

The door opens and closes behind him, all of them waiting until they no longer heard his footsteps. They crawled out of their hiding spaces once Akechi indicated they were safe. Morgana circled around him, curious.

“So… are you Crow’s treasure?” Haru asked gently.

“No. But I know what you want.” 

Akechi moved to the desk with the still warm food, setting down his figurine to dig through the center drawer. He turned around with the reddish wisp in his hands, hiding his face behind his hair.

“Alright, so now that we have a path to the Treasure, let’s send that calling card.” Morgana said.

Akira and Haru exchanged a glance, Haru kneeling down. Akechi sniffled, hurriedly rubbing his eyes with his arm. 

“Hey, will you be okay here, sweetheart?”

Akechi nodded, grabbing his figurine and turning back to face her. 

“He won’t hurt me. I promise.”

The Thieves carefully leave back the way they came, all going their separate ways. Of course, the group chat was active as soon as Akira’s head hit the pillow, checking through it.

**Ryuji: how r we gonna send this?**

**Maybe just to his phone? Itd be easier since futaba already is in his phone**

**Futaba: can do. just give the word and ill send it to him**

Akira sighed, dropping his phone on the bed. It was going to be a long fight, he could tell.

~~~~~~~

"Akechi Goro! Wait!" One of the third year girls called to him as the pair made their way over to him.

He had to ignore the vibrating in his pocket as he politely disposed of their advances, throwing in a joke about how he was married to his work. As soon as he got out, he slipped into the nearest alleyway, hoping it wasn't Shido he just ignored. Instead, the Metaverse app was open, and he stared at the words on the screen in disbelief.

**Match Found: Akechi Goro**

_ What the hell? When did I-? _

And as if right on cue, his phone vibrated, the screen blacked out, and then it came back to life with a calling card.

**To Akechi Goro, two-faced Detective Prince of Wrath,**

**We seen through your pleasant lies and false camaraderie.**

**We’re here to put a stop to your rampage once and for all.**

**We will take you down and put an end to your reign of terror.**

**Signed,**

**The Phantom Thieves**

"Mother fuckers." He hissed under his breath.

Loki swore with him, throwing a glare and some nasty curses at the unresponsive persona. Akechi started wracking his brain for the other key words. He had to stop them before they could steal his heart and force him to change. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be too hard to navigate through his own manifestation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget about this I swear! Just very busy ;_; ... Hopefully I'll be able to make another update fairly soon, but I'll most likely be busy again near the end of this week. So we'll seeee.


	10. The Ringmaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The race to steal Akechi's heart is a ticking time bomb.

"Remember, we have to be as fast as possible. It's only a matter of time before he figures out his own keywords." Makoto said, a stern expression. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready!"

They hit the ground running as soon as they got inside. It was even more eerily quiet as they ran through the tent to get to the office, even the audience was gone this time. Opening the door, they see Akechi quietly playing on the bed, back turned to them. Akechi's case sat on the desk where the cognition pulled out the Treasure yesterday, Ryuji grabbing it.

"Good luck." The small Akechi called after them as they dashed back out.

They passed the center stage, Ryuji yelping as an arrow hit him in the shoulder that was carrying the case, a blur swinging down and grabbing the dropped case and back up and onto the raised center stage.

"Dammit!"

They climbed up there, seeing the Ringmaster staring at them, the attache case in his hand and a match in the other. He dropped the match, a ring of fire flaring up and blocking the escape off the platform.

"Did you really think it'd be that simple?" He asked, tossing up the case to another shadow, swinging far out of their reach.

"One could hope, since you didn't try and kill us yesterday." Akira retorted dryly.

"Did you hurt him to get it?"

"Hurt who?" Ryuji asked in a hurried whisper.

"The child? No." 

The Ringmaster had a slight smile on his face at the answer, before it turned stern. The Ringmaster throws his hands up, the audience roaring to life right before he does a backflip. The entire stage spins violently under their feet, knocking them over in a line, before he lands, the stage suddenly much larger. Shadows swirled around their feet, the Thieves jumping up to their feet, tense. The shadows form up on his side first, all their cognitive selves staring them down. They start to try and move, finding themselves all stuck in place as more shadows formed in front of them.

“Shit, can’t move!” Ryuji growled. 

The Ringmaster smiled as the shadows fully formed on their side, their backs to the Thieves. 

"Better not disappoint me then, Heart Thieves."

The Ringmaster straightens up, one of the smaller shadows moving a few feet forward as if on command. They’re struggling to move as the Ringmaster stomps his foot, the fire flickering for a moment. Akira looked up, confused as both sides are still. He looks down at his feet to see if he was caught in a trap, seeing a little pedal by his foot. He whips his head back up again, the gears turning in his head as he sees the position of their other selves. The heat of the flames get closer and closer by the second, tickling his back. 

_ On that side, I’m next to Akechi. On either side of us is Makoto and Yusuke. Next to them is Ann and Futaba, and from there it’s Ryuji and Morgana. Haru is out in front… but why. _

He could feel the flame lick his elbow, pulling it up in front of his chest, feeling a small burn. 

“Tick tock, Joker. I thought you were better than this.” The Ringmaster stated, tapping his wrist as if he had a watch.

The dots connected like lightning in his head, thinking quick. He pointed at the shadow in front of Morgana.

“You to C5!” He shouted at it.

The shadow obeys, Akira quickly stomping on the pedal under his foot, the fire resetting. His friends turn to look at him in mutual confusion as the words stumble out of his mouth.

“It’s a chess board. It’s a fucking chess board.” 

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” Ryuji asked. 

“Fuck. This isn’t good guys. I’ve gotten better but he’s always two steps ahead of me.” Akira hissed.

He wished Hifumi was here right now. He knows shogi isn’t the same as chess, but she’s really good at tactics. 

“Just do your best. And if we have to cheat, we cheat.” Futaba whispered.

Akira nodded, clearing some of his less rational thoughts away to focus on the game laid out in front of him. They tried to cheat a little, but it was impossible to move if the moves were illegal, and Akechi was watching them like a hawk. He was doing his best, but after several of his pieces get captured and destroyed, dread is rising in his chest. Maybe they weren’t as prepared to fight his shadow as they thought. The Ringmaster didn’t even change expression, knowing he had them right where he wanted them. He exhaled shakily, seeing Futaba was in a position to check him.

“Ready, Oracle?”

“Ready, Joker, just give the word.”

“Bishop to C3.” He states, pointing at Futaba.

Futaba scrambles to the correct square, staring down Akechi.

“Check.” Akira says, stomping on his pedal.

Akechi gave him a slight smirk in response, eyeing up Futaba.

“Queen to C3.” 

He watches in terror and guilt as his cognitive double slides to her space, Futaba screaming as it tears into her. She falls to the ground unconscious, claws digging into her body as his double stands on top of her, grinning.

“ _ No! _ ” Akira screamed.

“ _ Oracle! _ ” The rest of them scream at the same time as Akira.

“Tsk, tsk. Better pay attention, Joker. One of your bishops is mine.” 

“Joker…” Ann whimpered.

“We can’t get to her. We’re still playing the game.” Akira was slowly losing hope, not being able to tear his eyes away from Futaba’s body.. “I don’t… it’s like he’s four steps ahead of me… How…?”

He was running out of pieces, and Futaba was crumpled on the ground, haunting him with his rookie mistake. He promised Sojiro he would keep her safe. How can he look him in the eye after this?

_ “Akira, look. Skull can take the queen.”  _ Arsene prodded, Akira glancing up.  _ “Don’t lose heart yet, we’re still in this.” _

“Skull.”

“Joker?”

“Knight to C3.” 

Ryuji nodded, running to the space and leaping into the air, bringing his steel pipe down on the shadow. The shadow poofed, the Ringmaster quirking an eyebrow, frowning. Ryuji quickly tried to scoop Futaba up in his arms, finding her stuck to the floor.

“I can’t move her!”

“We gotta finish the game, leave her there!” 

The Ringmaster pondered his next move as Arsene watched carefully.

_ “If we keep checking him, we’ll eventually back him into a corner.” _

Akechi moves one space, getting himself out of check range, tapping the pedal to throw the turn back to them. They danced like this for several more moves, getting checked a couple of times as well, and with Arsene’s guidance, Akira moved Makoto right into the perfect spot, Akechi also blocked on both sides by Haru and Yusuke.

“Checkmate!”

Akechi’s eyes widened, letting out a yelp as the stage spun under them once again. They were all moved again, the Thieves surrounded a downed Akechi.

“So, that outsmarting us wasn’t just a one-off event. Well played.” He said, looking up into his eyes, defiant with a flicker of worry, the voice becoming husky. “But aren’t you afraid of what will happen to him when all is said and done, Joker? You have lines you don’t cross, don’t you? And you’re about to cross it with him, aren’t you? Tch, I thought you were his friend, Joker.”

They all-out attacked him, jumping a fair distance back, Akira scooping up Futaba as they put some distance in between them and him. She groaned, waking up.

“Oracle?!” 

“Ugh, I’m okay, what happened?”

“We won the game, but he’s not finished yet. Are you okay enough to navigate?”

“Yeah I am. Necro, come here.” 

She climbed into Necronomicon, thankfully able to get herself out of danger. The ring of fire went out, being replaced by a ring of trees. In fact, everywhere on the stage but the very center was a thick forest, the Thieves piling into the clearing, alert. 

_ “Let me fly up.”  _

Arsene flew up, both him and Akira yelping as an arrow strikes him with bless magic, Arsene hitting the ground. Akira was stunned, trying to shake off the hit.

“Thought you’d know better, Arsene.” Akechi’s voice whispered among the trees around them. 

“Guys, we have company.” Futaba exclaimed.

Shadows flickered through the forest around them, the Thieves pulling in tighter together. They threw a few attacks at the shadows as they passed, having no luck. They heard a soft chuckle, and then the twang of several strings at once. Arrows rained down on them, all of them suffering some wounds no matter how fast they tried to get out of the way. They lingered at the edge of the clearing, peering into the trees.

"Oracle, do you have an idea what's going on?" Akira asked as he poured through his masks.

"Lots of shadows lurking around. Can't get a lock on his shadow though."

"Got any fire personas in there, Joker?" Ann asked.

"Wanna burn this place to the ground?" Carmen followed up.

Akira smiled, switching masks. the two of them set fire to the first few trees, the group retreating as the fire spread. Another barrage of arrows rains down on them, Makoto quickly buffing all their defenses before the arrows hit. The shadows pour out of the burning forest, the Ringmaster nowhere to be seen. It was one big group of humanoid shadows, hard to single one out. 

"Guess we'll have to beat them all." Morgana said.

The two sides clash, the shadows being cut down to size slowly. 

"Panther, look o-!" Futaba shouted, interrupted by Ann yelping as she was stabbed in the back.

The Ringmaster kicked her off the sword and disappeared again before they landed a hit on him. The fire appeared to burn itself out, the burnt trees bursting into ashes and carried up by a breeze. The Thieves cough as Haru helps Ann up, trying to cover their mouths. They saw they were alone again, the shadows having made their retreat. Morgana was already running over to Ann to heal her.

"Are you alright Panther?" Haru asked.

"I'll be fine. Where'd he go?"

"Into the trees again, I'm assuming." Makoto replied.

"Here, I'll buff you all. Try burning the trees again, that seemed to get them to come out."

Another round of them burning the trees and clearing more space, another appearance of the group of shadows, smaller. They traded blows again, the shadows firing arrows as they were cut down again. They spun around to check if the Ringmaster was behind one of them again, not seeing them. Yusuke gasped and hit the ground, a flaming arrow in his shoulder.

"How predictable." Akechi chuckled, voice bouncing through the woods.

The trees dissolved into ash once again, the shadows slinking back into what was left of the forest. The shadows didn't wait this time, firing arrows as fast as they could. Ann and Akira started to burn the trees again, both suddenly knocked off their feet. Vines crawl over their bodies, everyone else scrambling to cut them free as they continue to get hit. They get helped to their feet, the fire spreading amongst the trees again. The shadow group was tiny, but split apart, Akechi front and center. It becomes a regular fight, quickly realizing Akechi wasn't taking any damage with the other shadows still up. They focused all their attacks on the others, destroying the rest one by one. Akechi held a staff, fighting with it exclusively. Other attacks weren't affecting him until they too, started using their own melee weapons. Haru got the hit that knocked him to the ground, all of them surrounding him again.

"You're really set on this, aren't you?" The shadow said, sighing. "Have you even thought about what happens to your targets after their confessions? You're going to destroy him, you know that? You'll kill everything he is! Can't you see that?! I can't let you kill him like that, not while I'm still here."

“We’re trying to help you! Get it through your head!” Akira snapped at him.

They jumped on him, jumping back out of his reach. They could see the cold fury in his shadow’s eyes as he started to circle. He disappeared, the ashes swirling up, limiting their vision severely. They kept moving around, trying to pick out his shape among the ashes.

“So you too, will throw us away when we’re no longer convenient to you, is that it? Is that why you insist on this?”

The accusation was punctuated with a yelp as Makoto was stabbed in the back. The Ringmaster stood his ground as they converged on him, deftly parrying their attacks and giving Morgana and Akira a few cuts before he disappeared into the swirling ash again. 

“If we were going to, then why are we here? We are your friends!”

The ash got worse, swallowing all of them in it. Every one of them were blurry shapes, becoming clearer when they got closer to each other. Akira stumbled his way towards what he assumed was Yusuke, only for the shape to snarl and claw across his face, showing him Akechi’s face for a brief moment before it disappeared. 

“Hey, be careful! He’s pretending to be us in here!” Akira called out. 

“Mona, can’t you and Zorro try and do something about this ash?” Futaba asked.

“We’ll try.” 

Morgana and Zorro starting blowing away swaths of clear sight lines with their wind magic, the Thieves banding back together and staying in a tight circle, backs pressed against one another. Akechi appeared as the ash got pushed to the very edge, sword in hand, ready for them. It was just a straight up fight for them now, the shadow having run out of tricks to use. They fought as hard as they could, trading blows pretty evenly, until Akira dodged well enough and dealt the final blow as a counter. The Ringmaster glared at them, saying nothing before they did one last attack. The Ringmaster was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily.

"What, ain't got any more wise cracks? No more accusations?" Kidd asked tauntingly.

The Ringmaster signaled for the shadow to come back down with the case, an utterly lost and hopeless expression on his face.

"Just… take it. You would take it anyways no matter what I say."

Akira walked forward and reached for it, so close to their goal. A gunshot, and Akira fell to his knees with a yelp. The others rush to his side to assess the damage. He was shot through the leg.

"Either the dead walk the earth, or there is someone who should be rotting in a morgue somewhere right now." 

Akechi stepped out of the shadows with a snarl, gun pointed at Akira. That white prince outfit contrasted with the murderous intent in his eyes. 

"Crow, please." Akira pleaded, knowing they didn't have any other options. "He doesn't have to know."

"I am going to finish the job, and this time, I'll make sure I'm thorough about it."

A flash of light burst out from beside Akechi and his shadow disappeared, Akira's vision suddenly obscured by blue and white fluttering cloth.

"Don't do this." Robin Hood begged.

"The Palace is coming undone." Necro whispered to all of them. 

"What the hell are you doing, Robin? You answer to me, remember? Now get out of my way." He snarled.

"I am also obligated to protect you, and I am not letting you throw away a chance to save yourself." 

Ryuji quickly helped Akira up as Robin stood up straighter, standing his ground.

"I'm ordering you to step aside!"

"My prince, please! You never used to be like this until h-"

"You shut the hell up right this instant!" Akechi screeched, all his focus on Robin's hard stare. 

"Why can't you see what he's doing to you?! Look around and come to your senses!"

"You don't get to talk to me like that."

"Master-!"

"You know what? I'd have preferred you to stay silent."

"Guys we have to go. This palace is becoming unstable." Futaba whispered. 

The Thieves start to back away, the Palace beginning to shake violently as the pair kept arguing. They started moving faster, keeping an eye on the mad detective.

"Why are you answering to him?! You hate him and you're letting him order you around?"

"We have a plan and I'm sticking to it you ungrateful brat!"

"There are other ways to get your justice, Goro! Please listen to me!"

The Thieves turned around and bolted, making for the exit.

"You were doing this on purpose! Robin Hood, kougaon!"

Akira yelped as searing light hit him, making Ryuji stumble as he hit the ground. Ryuji scooped him up, sprinting with him. He glanced over Ryuji's shoulder to see Robin apologetic and almost fearful. Akechi started running towards then at a dead sprint, furious. Makoto hit her app as they got close to the entrance, Akechi gaining on them. 

"Beginning navigation."

The world bent and shimmied around them, Akechi's figure wavering.

"No no no no no-!" He screamed, getting cut off as their vision turned completely black. 

They hit the ground, Ryuji spinning quickly to land on his back and cushion Akira.

"Is everyone okay?" Akira asked, starting to get up.

He gasped as all the pain hit him at once, doubling over. 

"Akira!" Futaba yelled, skidding over to him. 

"Just my leg, just my leg." He mumbled, finding it hard to breathe deeply with his injured ribs.

"We need to get you to the doc. C'mon." Futaba pulled him up, Ryuji moving to help her.

They walked him over as they discussed what to do.

"I'm staying here with you tonight. I'll let Sis know. He might try to kill you here." Makoto said, already dialing.

~~~~~~~~~~

His manifestation was breaking down around him as he fished out his phone. He wasn't supposed to be able to enter it, yet here he was, the place becoming unstable. He pressed the app, the world wavering around him. He opened his eyes to find himself outside his school, his bike nearby. He pounded the wall with a fist as Loki moved to pin Robin Hood down, just as displeased as he was with him. He biked down to the station, taking a moment to pull off to the side and reenter the Metaverse. 

"Master-" Robin started before being cut off by Loki seizing his throat.

"Not another word out of you." Akechi snarled, the white melting away as Mementos formed.

Loki hopped out of his heart, Robin in tow, tossing him to the floor. Robin stared at the crimson mask, backing up as Loki came towards him.

"Goro, please-"

"I said shut up. Loki, descend. "

Loki pounced on him, his claws tearing into him. Akechi closed his eyes and turned away, hearing Robin's punishment play out behind him. He could hear Robin’s shallow breaths as he was dropped onto the floor. Loki was overwhelmingly satisfied.

"Now come." He called, feeling them both jump back into his heart.

He walked out, the real world greeting him with the hiss of closing doors. He had a lot of paperwork to do at home. 

_ "What will we do about the little thief, master?" _

_ Nothing yet. He's most likely in hiding, and I can't exactly go to each of their places without drawing their ire and his suspicion on me. I don't doubt that they would protect him. Shido doesn't know that Joker's alive, and I doubt they'd figure out how to get into his manifestation before the election. Considering they wasted a lot of precious time, we go forward with the plan as intended. _

Loki snickered, pleased.

_ "Can't wait to tear him apart." _

_ Neither can I. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, another big fight scene done. The collapse of the palace without their prize, but hey, they have some things to definitely think about.


	11. The Palace Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves meet up to dicuss what had happened in Akechi's Palace.

_ "Everyone meet in the Metaverse?"  _

_ Yeah. I was about to ask if you thought that was a good idea. _

Makoto and Futaba had stayed overnight, making sure Akechi wouldn't show up. Akira thanked them as Makoto went off to school, sending her along with a message. Futaba exhaled, typing away. Arsene was very subdued, not talking much at all. Akira could tell he was lost in his thoughts.

"You okay, Akira?"

"Yeah, luckily it's just like I simply pulled something, with a bruise to match. What are you up to?"

"Just making sure he's not coming this way. You sure you want to go to the Metaverse so soon though?"

"A lot happened yesterday. Arsene wants to talk to the others too. It may help us understand what just happened. I don't really want to fight after the past few days, just talk."

"Yeah, that was… unexpected. Necro and I stayed up late discussing. Talked a bit to Makoto too before she fell asleep. They're both excited to share, but we can wait until Arsene says whatever he needs to say."

Akira nodded. He booted up the little console he picked up on a whim, trying to pass the time.

~~~~~~~

Once down a level, Arsene beckoned his friends over to a more secluded area. Oracle and Necro wanted to discuss with the other half, which was fine by him. Necro could be quite loud.

"Another discussion, dear thief?" Milady asked, sitting down on a bench. "How nice of you to invite all of us this time."

Arsene sighed.

"I needed the three whose known Akira the longest, so sorry if you and Noir didn't come to mind, madame."

"That certainly was somethin' tho, aye?" Kidd asked, shaking his head. "To think Hood would be the one to be corrupted, not Crow 'imself."

"I should've picked up on it earlier." Arsene admitted, leaning back against the wall. "I thought there was something strange with the way the shadow talked, that switching when referring to himself."

"I am honestly amazed he didn't immediately kill us with that chess game. You helped Joker, right? That was some good thinking, Lupin." Johanna said.

"It helped to be privy to Akira and Crow's games. But that was rather too close for comfort."

_ Akira, can you send Necronomicon over when they're done with what they have to say? _

_ "Will do." _

"Still, the  _ how  _ is what myself and Morgana are puzzled over. We have been accepted completely by our other selves, I don't understand how this came to be." Zorro said.

They had some more theories they tossed around and offered, nothing really seeming likely as to what’s happened.

"I heard that you inquired for me, Master Thief?" 

Necro startled them with their sudden appearance, Arsene's feathers ruffled up.

"I wanted to ask about your awakening."

"My awakening?"

"Y'know, your captain's the only one of us who had a palace, must've remembered somethin', right?" Kidd crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke.

Necro hummed and lowered closer to the floor, a sign they've taken to mean that Necro was lost in thought.

"You mean to compare my experience to the Archer's, correct?"

"If you would, dear." Carmen answered.

"It's strange, I don't remember much before Alibaba's arrival and summoning of me. Mere bytes, here and there. I was trying to get through to her while she stumbled around in her own darkness."

"So it would be reasonable to assume Robin doesn't know much of his partner's distortion, yes?" Carmen asked, leaning forward in interest.

"That would be correct, Dancer. Though, he might be another case entirely. I was not awake yet, remember? And, well, it was rather exciting to help Alibaba tear away the last thorn of darkness in her heart!" 

Necro's pitch got higher and higher as they spoke, rapidly bouncing up and down, excited at the memory. The others winced at how loud they got.

"So you ain't know a thing, do ya?"

"Not a lot, Captain, I know very little. Sorry if this hasn't been enlightening. Though..."

"Hm? Though what?" Zorro prodded.

"Well, if you must know, Vigilante... I was just thinking it was rather strange how... detached he was from his apprentice. The only other one that way is Master Thief." Necro perked up, swinging around to Arsene's side. "I was always curious about you, actually."

"Wait, what do you mea-"

"I've been meaning to ask what it's like to be so disposable."

"Excuse me?"

"The very nature of your apprentice's power, is it not? For him to take on and discard faces, yours included. Has he?"

Arsene backed up a little, feathers puffing up. His flames lowered in grief as the memory resurfaced.

"Once... It hurt, actually. I had no awareness of what was going on. And when he awakened to me again some time later, he clung to me sobbing and refusing to let go. Like he was clinging to a much needed lifeline."

"Interesting..." Necro pulled back, humming again. 

Arsene withdrew a little, uncomfortable. Johanna excused herself, then pushed Necro off with her to scold them privately. 

"Need some space?" Milady asked.

"Please. Just for a moment or two." He replied, catching Carmen's eye.

They huddled off somewhere else, Carmen sliding over to him. Arsene reached out for her hands, Carmen gently grasping his wrists and rubbing circles into them.

"Hate to ask so soon after that, but how are you feeling? About him, I mean?"

"He put himself in danger to protect my Akira." Arsene mumbled, sharply exhaling. "I can't ignore that."

"Right. Anything strange about him compared to the casino?"

"He looked almost scared. Maybe I imagined it, but Akira thought so too. And all that anger while we fought him, I don't know where that's coming from. Whatever is happening to him... there's something we're missing." 

"You're worried about him." 

Arsene nodded, starting to fidget. 

"Look, we can't help him right now. It would just put you and Joker in more danger, and you know that."

"I know, but if we could-"

"If we can do it without endangering everyone, we will. It's not possible at the moment, Lupin. It's not. I'll admit, I'm surprised he differs from his user so strongly, but helping him is out of the question. His user is still intent on killing Joker, after all."

Arsene sighed deeply, closing his eyes. He was frustrated, but she was right. Carmen sighed.

"You look like you need some more time, so I'll leave you be, Lupin. But you need to be here, for Joker, alright? Maybe you should tell him about this. You don't have to, right now, but think about it."

Carmen rejoined the others, Arsene running fingers through his feathers once. He pours over the memories of the casino heist, trying to see if he could've spotted this happening earlier. Only once did he hear a strained reply from Robin to Crow, about something else entirely. Another memory, the complete defeated silence after he asked some rather specific questions about sharing a heart with others. Arsene picked through more memories, trying to match it to the raw emotions of the shadow. 

_ His shadow didn't care about his heart as much as he did the cognition in that same room. And that was markedly different in how the other cognitions of Crow were treated. The shadow only interacted directly with that one cognition, why? The cognition didn't want to be there, and yet he kept him there. Who was this 'he' that he referring to, if not one of the shadows of our other selves? _

And his thoughts drifted over the accusations of how stealing his heart would be akin to killing Crow. He found his eyes trailing over to Necronomicon, mulling over the tomb they came from.

_ I wonder if Robin feared that us stealing Crow's heart meant destroying him entirely. Would we have Necro if we stole Oracle's heart? Robin is one of the few good things about Crow. _

Arsene sighed again, stretching out his wings to their fullest before folding them back up. He waved the others back over, leading them back to their users. Akira glanced up at him, concerned.

“You were doing a lot of thinking there. You okay?”

“I doubt you would want to hear those yet. Should we bring all our discussions together and see if we can make any sense out of them?”

“Well,” Necro started, hovering low near Oracle. “We were thinking that the cause of the Palace lies in whatever rift happened between the Archer and his apprentice.” 

“They were really going at it.” Skull agreed. 

“Well, part of my thinking was how strange it was that he didn’t seem to care about his heart as much until we came to steal it. Even then, he seemed more concerned about the child in the room.” Arsene said.

“Yeah, that was weird.” Panther said, tilting her head. “Seemed like, overprotective, almost.”

“That really brings up the question of how long Robin has been with Crow.” Queen spoke, a hand up to her chin. “The way the Ringmaster talked to him, it was almost like he knew him that young.” 

There were some murmurs among them, Arsene slipping back into his darkened train of thought from earlier as they discussed. Akira picked up on it, looking up at him.

“Arsene?”

“Earlier, I was thinking…” Arsene started, taking a deep breath before he began again. “He sounded so afraid that if we were successful, we’d destroy Crow. And now I’m curious if he was really afraid that it would’ve been him that would’ve been destroyed. And thinking about that possibility isn’t… comforting. Since Necro used to be Oracle’s shadow, I wonder that if she hadn’t come to her own Palace, would Necro... exist? Would you two be standing here now if we had stolen your heart, Oracle?”

The room became silent and uncomfortable, Necro and Oracle looking at each other. Oracle opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, clearly in shock at the question. Mona was also deep in thought, him and Zorro muttering to each other about it.

“I don’t know.” Mona admitted. “It’s not something I’ve ever thought about.”

“It’s no wonder he would be so vehement about us stealing it.” Queen added, crossing her arms over her chest.

Akira grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. They discussed a little more about it before moving on to the other elephant in the room.

“Now we gotta tackle Shido’s palace, but first we need those keywords.” Mona said.

“Right, we should head to that Diet Building Sojiro was talking about. It’s a start.” Akira said.

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Noir asked. 

“Look, we don’t have that much time before the election. And we have no idea what’s in there. The sooner we start, the more time we would have for the unexpected.”

They all begrudgingly agreed, deciding to head there now. Akira was worried about him on the way over, but he didn’t ask. Arsene figured he was leaving it for tonight.

~~~~~~~

Robin laid there, wincing as he shifted a little, overhearing their conversation. Loki berated him even further when they got back home while Goro cleaned up, but he didn’t have the energy to respond or even turn to face him. 

What could he even say anyway? He couldn’t fight Loki anymore, let alone both of them like he had been doing. That selfless act of his crushed any hope of getting Goro back at all. They were alive, at least. That’s all he could really give himself credit for, saving their lives. Saving  _ his  _ life, unlike the first time. He was thankful that they weren’t going to pursue them again, at least for now. All of it would’ve been for nothing.

He wasn’t even aware Joker was alive, until his voice came through, declaring Goro to be his friend, declaring his intent to help.

He wasn’t planning on the Phantom Thieves to infiltrate his heart. He just wanted Goro to see what he was doing to himself. Robin didn’t want whatever was left of him to be destroyed.

But now he wondered if it would’ve been better if they successfully stole his heart. Maybe he wouldn’t be in this much pain. 

He hissed softly as Loki pressed down on his wounds.

“Still there, Archer?”

Robin gave him a quick glare, that tiny response seeming to satisfy him. Loki pressed a hand to his throat, Robin going still as he moved it up to his chin, a claw dragging along his skin.

"Look at you, you've finally learned obedience. Glad to see we got it through your head."

He let go, Loki returning back to his side, settling down for the night. Robin shifted again, uncomfortable, but moving his whole body was an impossible chore now, so he stayed where he was.

Deep down, he knows the Thieves wouldn’t bother trying to save him. They had bigger things to worry about.

~~~~~~~

Akira and Morgana returned, Futaba in tow, the group so far unsuccessful in getting that last keyword. Akira falls onto the bed, sighing. Arsene was still quiet, muttering in French every now and again, seemingly agitated.

_ Arsene, are you okay? _

_ "Hm?" _

_ Arsene? _

_ "Are you in a good mental place right now for me to talk honestly?" _

Akira blinked, thinking about it. Arsene rarely shared his troubles with him, so he figured Arsene was having a difficult time. He slipped downstairs to change into his pajamas, falling back on the bed.

_ Yes. Let me come to you. _

"Good night, Futaba."

"Night."

Akira soon after closing his eyes found himself drifting until he woke up on Arsene's couch. Arsene was sitting on the floor, poking the dying fire, his back to him.

"Arsene?"

"Hello, love." He mumbled, getting up to put some more wood on the fire. 

Arsene turned around, Akira patting the spot next to him. Arsene sat down with a sigh, glancing at him.

"It's been a strange few days, hasn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah, it has. Arsene, what's wrong?"

"I keep thinking about that fight. I've never heard him so angry. It… I have some… conflicting feelings about it. About him."

Akira held his hand in his own, letting him know he was listening. Arsene sighed, giving him a guilty look.

"I should have told you this earlier, but, much like you have feelings for Crow, I have feelings for Robin." Arsene got a little less tense as he paused. "And I'm sorry. I was wrestling with this because Crow has made himself your enemy and I couldn't quite trust him. But I simply can't ignore that Robin Hood would take a bullet for us- for  _ you,  _ so in defiance of his user."

Akira stared, and then looked down at their hands. Somehow, he always figured there was more to where Arsene went during Sae's casino. He really should have expected his persona would be attracted to Akechi's own.

"Is this why you couldn't tell me earlier?"

"Yes. I didn't know how I would feel if I saw him again. I didn't want you to worry about me. You already have enough to worry about."

"Do any of the others know?"

"Carmen, but I can't really hide that sort of thing from her. I'm certain she knows about your crush too. She won't tell Panther, though, she's assured me."

_ Right. Lovers persona. _

"And because of the palace, his palace, you're worried that he's suffering?"

"We have much more to worry about, Akira, I know. It's not a good feeling to have to leave someone behind. Besides, we don't know enough about his situation to truly help him."

"We have Shido to deal with, first. Maybe after that, we can…" Akira trailed off, realizing he wasn't sure how they could help.

"I don't know." Arsene admitted. "As much as it pains me to consider and say, he's not a priority."

Akira bit his lip. Robin barely talked to anyone in the first place. Most likely that was Akechi's orders, and Robin didn't want to betray him. 

"You said he seemed happier talking to you. Maybe that's enough for us to…" Akira stopped. 

Arsene's face fell, sliding his hand out of his. They both knew it wasn't enough, just seeming happy wasn't going to be enough. Akira moved to hug Arsene, feeling him tremble beneath him. 

"My God, I feel like an idiot. If only I had seen this earlier, if only I tried to reach out more, I-" Arsene cut himself off, pressing a hand to his face.

"It's not your fault." Akira murmured. "It's not your fault, Arsene."

He felt Arsene return the hug, moving his body so he was entirely underneath him, Arsene burying his face into his shoulder. It felt almost hot, and Arsene was heavy, but Akira didn't move so Arsene could have this. Arsene quickly sat up, worried.

"Your injuries! Sorry, Kira. Are you hurting?"

"No, I'm fine. You needed that."

Arsene exhaled slowly, leaning back on the couch.

"We just gotta keep moving. There's nothing we can do for him." He said, quiet.

Akira flopped onto his chest, cuddling him. He knows Arsene wants to help them, just as badly as he does. Arsene shifted to make it easier, the two falling asleep.   
  


The next day, all of them meet back up in front of the Diet Building, determined to get inside Shido's Palace. They were all getting frustrated again after about another half hour of getting nowhere. 

"What the hell could that last keyword be?' Ryuji muttered.

Akira's thoughts drifted back to the first time he saw Shido. When he saved that woman. Something about steering this country in the right direction.

"A ship." Akira said.

"Match found. Beginning navigation."

They all tensed as the world shifted around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoof... that's a lotta sad.


	12. Black Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves have to eventually fight one of their own.

The short look he got around his Palace kept him up at night. For one thing, Akechi wasn't sure what he would find in his own heart. 

_ It dropped him off in some sort of spartan office, very neat and tidy, a door near the desk that was cracked a little bit open, while the front door was open wide. He could hear the fight going on, but the cracked open door piqued his curiosity. He walked in to find himself staring at the back of his own head, his own face whipping around with wide eyes. The child scrambled off the cot into the closet, slamming it shut.  _

_ “Go away! I don’t like you!” _

_ He found himself trying to yank open the closet door, finding it difficult. _

_ “You hurt us! Leave me alone!” _

_ “Hurt you? Hurt  _ you? _ You’re the reason the Phantom Thieves have access to my heart!” Akechi snarled. _

_ “You  _ hurt  _ us! You don’t care about me anymore! Just leave me like everyone else has!” The child screamed back. _

_ Akechi stepped away, stunned. He heard the child slide down the door before sobbing. He turned and fled, not wanting to see this anymore. Ran towards the fighting, just to get away. _

He turned on his side, staring at the wall. It made him uncomfortable to the point of not being able to fall asleep. It’s not like he slept very well anymore nowadays.

~~~~~~

“Whoa.” Futaba said.

They all looked around at their surroundings, seeing miles and miles of the area around them consumed in the corruption of Shido’s Palace. 

“This is huge. How corrupt is he to have this much distorted around him?” Morgana commented, eyes wide.

Akira walked to the front of the ship, staring off into the waters and sinking buildings. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t anything this huge. He turned on his heel, looking at his friends.

“Let’s go. We have to stop him.”

They followed him fearlessly into the front hall, seeing many shadows of people milling about. They didn’t see anything too aggressive, the shadows mostly expressing gratitude that they were the ones saved over others. This was going to be a monster of a Palace to take on.

Akira fell back onto the couch in the safe room once they got inside. The pool deck had one of their needed recommendations on it, and getting here was a hassle. Arsene hung an arm around his shoulders, Akira leaning on him.

"You still good?" Ryuji asked.

"Just need a breather. How are the rest of you?"

"I mean, I'm fine to keep going." Haru said, sitting on his other side. "We don't want you to push yourself too hard."

Akira sighed, sitting back up. He exchanged a glance with Arsene as he stood back up.

"If we're good to keep going, then let's."

Akira walked out of the safe room, his friends behind him.   
  


Akira laid in bed, going over their progress. The amount of times they've been turned into mice was starting to get to him. He closed his eyes, and found himself surrounded by ticklish feathers and his head on something very warm. He opened his eyes, reaching out for Arsene's other hand. The shadows were long, and the fire was very low.

"Hello Akira. Trouble sleeping?"

"I could say the same to you. Are you okay?"

Arsene shifted, resting his chin on top of his head.

"Just thinking of if, when we have to fight Crow and Robin again. Crow is not the type to give up so easily."

"You don't like the thought either, huh?"

"Mhm." Arsene gave a little squeeze of his hand. "But we're going to have to, eventually."

"I know."

They sat in silence, Akira pressing as close as he could into Arsene. 

_It's_ _going to hurt both of us._

What was he like?"

"Robin?"

"I mean, he never talked much. I figured…"

"Hmm. I was wary of him at first. But the way he isolated himself as we rested, suppose it tugged at my heart strings. Just thought he needed someone to talk to. He seemed kind, like he never wanted the outcome of their plan to succeed in their favor. I wasn't sure about him still, it felt like he was still hiding something. And his Palace…"

"We can't keep overthinking this Arsene. It doesn't sit right with me either, especially how accusatory he was."

"I suppose it's hard to ignore. Crow is very important to him, more than anything. I'm struggling to imagine how that formed."

_ And he believes that I could help save Akechi. Somehow. _

Akira squeezes his hand, Arsene humming gently. The two fell asleep like that.

The ship loomed before them, the group ducking back inside before it could unnerve them fully.

"There's only one letter left to find, so let's go until we get it."

"Right! Let's do this!" Ryuji shouted, grinning.

They ducked inside, preparing for a fight once they found the last person they needed.

~~~~~~

The last letter was now in their hands, and hours of scurrying to and fro all over the ship finally had an end in sight. Arsene could feel Akira's excitement as they ran back through the boiler room.

"Ah. You figured it out a lot sooner than expected." A voice stopped them cold.

They turned around to see Crow, tense and ready for a fight.

"Crow." Akira said, tensing. "Why are you here?"

"To kill you, of course."

"Think about this, please. It's not too late, you could join us."

"I don't need your pity." He spat. "I don't need you, you criminal trash living in an attic!"

Two shadows appeared before him, a twist of Crow's wrist wrapping them in dark red flames. 

"Whoa, careful, something's different about these ones." Oracle warned as they started battling.

The shadows hit hard, almost like they were whipped up into a frenzy. But with some quick thinking, they defeated the monsters, Crow lowering his sword and stepping forward. Akira tensed, Arsene coming out beside him. They know Robin Hood's weakness, and if Crow truly means to fight them, they'll have the advantage. He exchanged a quick look with Carmen, who was nothing but sympathetic, before keeping their eyes on Crow.

"Stop this now, Crow. You're outnumbered." Mona said.

"Why, because you have friends? Don't make me laugh." Crow scoffed, before grinning wildly. "I'll show you who I really am!"

Powerful waves came out from where he was, the light bright and harsh as his outfit melted away as he laughs maniacally. Something spun out of the ground behind him, confusing and hard to look at as the outfit came into being: black, blue, and entirely sharp. A black mask that faded into crimson adorned his face, his movements wild and exaggerated. They all realized that there was someone else behind him, a rather sharp and dangerous looking being. A shiver went through Arsene's being, his friends picking up on it.

"A second persona?? He has  _ two  _ personas?!?" Mona yelled.

"Come, Loki!" Crow shouted, raising his hand to the sky. 

Loki grinned, raising his hands up as he perched on his sword, bathing Crow in a wreath of crimson flames. Crow laughed again, Loki leaping off his perch and grabbing the sword. 

"Justice? Righteous? Keep that shit to yourselves!"

"Arsene, you alright there mate?" Kidd asked, seeing him transfixed.

"I don't like this. Something is wrong about him. I don't-"

"What's wrong Lupin? Is the great thief finally admitting his cowardice?" Loki sneered as they charged forward.

Arsene move to meet him, the two getting thrown back hard, Arsene grunting on impact with the floor.

"Shit!" Skull hissed.

"I'm going to rip you apart Joker!" Crow snarled.

"I won't let you!' Arsene snarled as they got back to their feet. 

Back and forth they traded blows with Crow, Crow doggedly focusing on Akira. Crow never switched personas, and while thankful that he wasn't fighting Robin Hood, Arsene started to worry about what happened to him. Loki swung, Arsene deftly dodging it and charging at him.

"Where is he?" Arsene snarled as he pinned Loki to the wall.

Loki snorted in amusement.

"What, like you ever cared about the archer? You probably only cared enough so you could manipulate him!” Loki spat, breaking Arsene's hold on him with a well placed kick. "Should’ve heard how pathetic he was!"

Loki slashed at him with his sword, Arsene flying back to avoid the worst of it. Loki slipped back to Akechi's side, focusing on other teammates. Arsene felt Akira call him back, switching his masks as Arsene slipped back into his heart. He was furious. Loki snickered as Akechi focused on Akira, trying to kill him.

“So weak, he let himself be corrupted, be twisted. You really think someone strong would be so easily fallen? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Shut. Up.” Arsene snarled. “You are not going to talk ill about him. He was stronger than you.” 

“Him? Don’t make me laugh. Master doesn't need him. He was useless, he was holding Master back."

"You're lying! He's stronger than you'll ever know!"

"But we won't know, now will we? Even the strongest can be worn down." Loki lunged, sweeping them all off their feet. "I gotta say, the silence on his end is rather refreshing."

Arsene's fires flared up as he became enraged, Akira cycling through his masks. Arsene struggled, wanting to fight, burning with vengeance.

_ "Arsene, don't. He's trying to get a rise out of you." _

Crow's intense stare at Akira reminded him that he couldn't act on his rage, or else it'd be playing into their hands. But still, Loki made his blood boil.

"Aw, too bad. I was hoping Lupin wasn't such a coward. But I'll gladly kill you anyway, little thief."

Loki laughed as he dodged an attack and Crow slashed Akira's chest with his own sword. 

_ Akira! _

Carmen hit Loki in the back with a heavy fire blast with a snarl. Loki spins around and thrusts at her with his blade, Carmen barely dodging. Goemon and Milady moved in on him as Fox held Crow off long enough for Noir to help Akira up.

"Here, I'll give you a hint of what I did to him!" Loki sneered, pouncing on Milady.

Loki slashed her across the chest with his claws, cutting deep as Noir yelped. Milady looked to be bleeding a bit as Zorro stepped in to take her place. Johanna healed all of them quickly, the pair barely dodging a swipe from Crow's blade.

"First we'll destroy you, Joker, but we can make sure you watch as we kill your silly allies one by one if you want that instead. Then, we'll destroy the bastard that runs this place in the most satisfying way." Loki laughed again, kicking Goemon in the face as he leapt past him.

After what felt like several hours and with one more well placed blow, Crow and Loki were defeated. Loki was struggling to get up, hissing as Crow wobbled and panted in place. Akira moved to face him, concern toning his voice.

"Crow, why go through all this?"

"I was hoping to get close enough to sink the knife into my shithole father's back, and ruin his life as he ruined mine. He couldn't have a bastard child if he hoped to become Prime Minister. I hate you for getting in my way, Joker."

"But you don't hate Joker, do you?" Mona asked. "That little smile you had before we fought…"

Crow looked down, not saying anything.

"It's not too late, Crow. Join us? We can take him down together."

"So desperate to save a now useless puppet." Crow's voice sneered.

They all turned to look at Crow's cognition, not unlike Loki's vicious smile, pointing a gun at Crow.

"All you ever wanted was to be loved, right? How pathetic. Now make yourself useful and shoot them."

"Crow, don't listen to him!" 

Crow gripped the gun in his hand tightly, raising his arm up to point it at Akira.

"Yes, good. Now do it."

"Crow, please."

He spun around and shot his cognitive double, before throwing something at Akira for him to catch.

"This is goodbye, Joker."

A flicker of gold eyes as a white hand guided Crow's hand slightly up as he squeezed the trigger. Arsene popped out in surprise.

_ He's still alive! _

"No no no! What are you doing you son of a b-" Loki screamed before the wall came crashing down and the alarm blared.

"Crow!" Akira yelled, running to the wall, Arsene behind him.

He banged his fist on it, panicking.

"Joker, promise me something?"

"Anything."

Crow chuckled a bit at that.

"Take Shido down for me."

"... I promise."

"Thank you."

They heard fighting start on the other side, getting farther and farther away, Akira scrambling around for a way to lift the wall back up. 

"He's gone." Oracle said softly, both Akira and Arsene freezing for a moment.

Arsene rammed his shoulder against the wall, desperate.

_ I'll save y- _

"Lupin! Are you  _ mad _ ?" Carmen yelled.

He shoved her off as she tried to restrain his arm, Arsene throwing himself at it again. Goemon and Zorro restrained his arms quickly as Carmen moved in front of him.

"Let go of me!" He snarled, flaring his wings out in hopes of getting them to let go as he struggled.

" _ ARSENE! _ " Carmen snapped as she grabbed him by the horns and shoved their faces together, making him look at her.

Arsene blinked, stunned.

"He put his trust in you," Carmen started, tightening her grip. "And you will betray that if you continue this. Do not let his sacrifice be in vain."

Arsene's eyes widened, hurt. He wanted to argue this, and started to.

"Arsene, return." Akira's voice was sharp.

Arsene does so, mostly out of shock. Akira practically stomped his way to the door, shoving the last letter into the slot.

"There, a path to the Treasure." Mona said as they made their way inside. "Let's get out of here."

~~~~~

Robin Hood pinned him down, feeling the chains slide off his back, Loki not able to get up in time. He glanced at Akechi, struggling to breathe, to stay awake. Loki writhed and twisted, trying to break free, Robin bearing down on him.

"You stay where you are, beast." Robin snarled. "I've had enough of you."

"Oh, so you're a coward too, huh?" Loki snapped. "Can't even fight fair, you little bi-" 

Robin pressed down on his throat, cutting him off, Loki choking.

"You're not going to hurt him anymore, parasite."

Robin grabbed Loki's sword, letting go to shove it through his chest. Loki let out a frenzied howl, bringing his now freed hands around to tear into Robin's back as he was dying. Robin kept pushing until he felt the body under him stop moving. Robin let go, feeling weaker than before, moving to Akechi. He picked him up, cradling him against his chest and starting to get out of there.

"Hopefully, hopefully you'll survive. Just... need to get you out of here."

He realized there wasn't a way out of this side, instead searching for something. He pulled out a little straw creature wrapped with twine.

_ "Here, Crow. If we get separated and overwhelmed, just break this and it'll put you back at the entrance. I've given everyone one." Joker said, smiling. _

_ "So I just throw this on the ground?" _

_ "Nah, Joker does it cause he's a drama queen. It's easier to crush it in your hand." Panther said. _

He gently placed the creature into Akechi's palm, closing his fingers around it. A poof of smoke blinded him for a second, finding them near the front of the ship. Robin started finding it harder and harder to move as he went towards it, limping, struggling to keep upright. Akechi's eyes fluttered shut, curling in on himself.

"Almost there. I love you, Goro. I'm sorry I failed to protect you." 

Robin jumped off the ship, the world shifting, feeling himself forced back into Akechi's heart. He hoped it was enough as he succumbed to his wounds. 

~~~~~~

They made their way to the entrance, Akira making sure any shadows they came across was ended rather brutally. What Akechi threw to him before the wall cut them off he was gripping tightly in his fist, not wanting to lose even the slightest grip on it.

_ Once we deliver that calling card, I'll make sure he goes down. _

Akira thought back to when he gave Akechi a way out. Maybe he kept it, maybe he threw it away. He's hoping that's the reason why Futaba can't sense him anymore.

They get to the entrance, and Akira breaks out in a dead sprint to get out of the Palace, his friends close behind him. The world shifted, they all tensed as their vision briefly turned to black, and Akira looked around as soon as he was able.

Nothing. No body, no Akechi to greet them. Akira gripped the gift in his hand as they split up. Morgana silently slipped away with Futaba as they got to Yongen-Jaya, Akira let himself in. He barely got himself changed and into bed before he fell into it, glasses tossed aside somewhat carelessly.

He opened his eyes again as he felt a great heat on his back, finding himself kneeling on the floor. Arsene's room was tossed about, the fire roaring as he saw Arsene angrily throwing things around.

"Arsene." He whispered, the persona jumping.

Arsene turned around to look at him, Akira clutching his hands to his chest. The fire died down to pitiful embers as Arsene crossed back over and kneeled in front of him. Finally Akira dared to look at what he was given again, unclenching his fingers to reveal the black king. Arsene gently closed his fingers around it again, Akira breaking down into sobs. Arsene pulled him into his chest, hugging tightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skipped a lot of Shido's Palace bc I didnt change anything up to their fight.


	13. One More Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Phantom Thieves make Shido's calling card and prepare.

Robin Hood stirred. He wasn’t sure where they were, opening his eyes. Akechi still had his closed, and he sighed in relief as he realized Akechi was simply unconscious. But where were they? 

“Well, that’s not too bad.” A voice said. “Guess that little girl was right about me, huh?”

Someone, a woman? Robin wasn’t sure. 

It sounded like heels clicking against the floor away from them, the silence after she left giving Robin time to think about what he had done. He guesses Akechi will hate him even more now that he got rid of Loki.

_ If I just stay quiet, like he asked me to be, then maybe the punishment will be lesser. _

He sat up, finding the strength to do that at the very least. It was still painful to move, but he was simply glad Akechi was still alive. That much he was thankful for.

~~~~~~~~

It felt like just opening his eyes was a herculean task, sniffing, all his tears gone. Akira rolled onto his back, staring blankly at his ceiling. His fingers uncurled, the chess piece rolling from his palm onto the sheets. He didn’t want to get up and keep going, but he had to. He made a promise. 

_ “Kira?”  _

_ Morning Arsene.  _

Arsene wrapped his arms gently around his stomach, sadness reflecting in his own demeanor. Akira put his hands on top of his stomach, where Arsene’s would be if he was right there. Akira grabbed the piece again, laying there for a little while longer.

_ Ready to go? _

_ “When you are, dear.” _

Akira slowly got up, rubbing his eyes clear. He inspected his glasses, grateful they didn’t scratch or crack with the way he carelessly threw them last night as he put them on. First, they had to prepare their calling card, which they had to step into Mementos to create it. Their first ever video calling card. It should have been exciting. 

But. 

He found himself alone, waiting for everyone else to get in to Mementos. Arsene slipped out beside him, rubbing his thumbs along his palms. He just couldn’t muster much enthusiasm, no matter how hard he tried to will it into existence. 

“Are you sure you want to do this today?” Arsene asked softly.

“I promised.” Akira’s voice cracked in the middle, squeezing his eyes shut. 

Arsene pressed his forehead against his, humming a single note. Akira glanced over to the door to the Velvet Room, Justine pointedly looking down at her clipboard. 

“I should do something first.” Akira said quietly. 

Arsene nodded, letting go. The two strolled through the Velvet Room door, Akira waking up in his cell. He got up and moved to the door, quietly going through the personas he’s collected. He came back out with Uriel in his possession, Arsene saying nothing. They went down one level to wait for the others, quietly sitting on the stairs. Akira leaned against Arsene, Arsene wrapping his wing and arm around him. 

"Being in love sucks." Akira mumbled.

"Akira…"

Akira dug out the black king, rolling it over his fingers and palm with his thumb. One more game. He wanted one more game with him. He felt Arsene pull him into his lap, wings shifting. He held onto the piece tight, going back to fidgeting with it once he settled in Arsene's lap.

"I didn't want to lose him."

"I didn't either."

"Sorry for earlier. I… I was mad at him, not you."

"Akira, he made his choice."

"I know! It wasn't a good choice!"

"Akira, don't say that."

"What do you want me to say? 'Yeah, it was great he killed himself for us, perfect, just what I wanted'?"

"He protected you. All of you. Us." Arsene's voice took on a sharp tone before he softened it. "Akira, I know you're upset, and I am too. But he believes in you so much to go that far for you."

"But not enough to let me save him."

"We couldn't, Akira. There was no way we could've gotten to him in time. What could we have done, love?"

"I don't know. He deserved better than that." Akira choked, burying his face into Arsene.

"I know." He murmured, hugging him.

Akira cried into him, slightly annoyed at himself over it. The one person he wanted more than anything in the world, and he was gone. He felt Arsene pet him slowly, leaning into his touch. 

"I'll never love again." He muttered.

"Maybe not the way you loved him, Akira. But one day you will."

Akira didn't respond. He knew Arsene had his own heart broken too. It wasn't helping to think about other possibilities right now. He curls up more, Arsene shifting to support him better. Akira waited for his friends to get here, knowing there wasn't much he could do about the calling card without them. 

~~~~~~~~

Akira certainly seemed better among his friends, Arsene noted. He stayed where he was on the stairs as the others arrived, leaving the kids to talk amongst themselves. Carmen stepped in front of the bottom step, looking up at him.

"Room for one more?" Carmen asked softly, concerned.

Arsene patted the space next to him, Carmen moving to sit next to him.

"You okay?"

Arsene sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning backwards. He didn't answer, the wound much too fresh.

"Sorry for grabbing you like that, Lupin. I didn't know what else to do." She paused, looking him over. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want. I know it's too soon."

"Just lots of thinking. He must have seen Loki the way I did, as something wrong. How long was he fighting Loki? How long before he couldn't anymore? We didn't even notice him struggling..."

"Arsene, you can't blame yourself."

"I should've known something was wrong with the way he talked sometimes. With some of the questions he's asked me." 

Carmen offered her hand, Arsene taking it. She squeezed his hand between both of hers.

"We couldn't have known the extent of Loki's control over those two. You don't need to kick yourself over things outside your control, Arsene."

He sighs, leaning against her, Carmen shifting to press close.

"He's hurting." He mumbled, gesturing at Akira.

"And so are you." She quietly replied. "We're here for the two of you. Always. Just take your time, dear."

He closed his eyes, putting his head on her shoulder. 

_ I still feel like there was more I could do for him if I was given the chance. _

"Thank you. I needed someone to knock some sense into me back there."

Carmen smiled gently, waving the others over.

"We worry about you too, you know."

"I know."

Kidd got up there first, sitting on his other side and squishing him against Carmen. 

“C’mere big guy.” He said as he helped pulled Arsene into a big group hug with the rest of them, whether they intended to or not. 

Arsene smiled as Zorro and Goemon are the first two to wiggle out of Captain Kidd’s hold to brush themselves off. Johanna glared at Kidd until he put her down with a mumbled apology.

“All of you are truly good friends.” Arsene said, starting to get up. 

They looked over to their kids, seeing them all start wrapping up their calling card. Their excitement was infectious as they made to leave Mementos.

~~~~~~~~

Akechi groaned, coming to, staring at a white tile ceiling. 

_ I'm not… dead…? _

His fist was clenched by his side, feeling something inside it. He turned his head to see a white curtain blocking his view from the rest of the room. He felt one presence inside him, silent and watching carefully. He didn't get a chance to dwell on it as the curtain was thrown open, revealing a dark blue haired woman, squinting at her.

"Oh good, you're awake. Thought I'd have to resort to giving you a true love's kiss, Mr. Prince." She deadpanned as she slid the rest of the curtain open.

He saw a messy desk a few feet away, with some monitors and pictures and various equipment scattered on and around it. A stool and a chair were the only other furniture in the very narrow room.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't fucking know." He rasped, closing his eyes against the bright lights.

"Fair enough. Let me get you some water first, you were out for a while."

Akechi heard the heels click away, a sink running a few moments later. She came back, setting something on the desk before the creak of a metal tray table being set up. She put something down on it, the squeak of the chair giving where she was away. Akechi half opened his eyes again, attempting to slowly sit up. She got up to help, Akechi waving her away. He took a sip of water, his throat still feeling horribly dry.

"I'm Takemi Tae, by the way." She introduced herself. "You're one of Leblanc's regulars, right?"

"Huh?"

"I see you at that cafe a lot, I figured you were at least friends with the boy living there."

"Sort of." He mumbled.

"Hm. Well, it's fine. I can't seem to get in contact with him today, have been trying all day. I figured you'd want to see your friend, let him know you're okay."

Akechi opened his mouth to argue, but just let out a sigh instead. He didn't feel up to arguing with her about his… relationship with Kurusu. He drank the rest of the water before laying back down. 

_ If Kurusu doesn't know, then who brought me here? And what the hell is in my hand? _

She left the room again to answer her phone, leaving him alone. He raised his fist above him and opened it, seeing crushed bits of straw and a piece of twine. 

_ The thing Kurusu gave me during the casino heist? When did…? _

He reached out to the presence in his mind, sensing only one. He figured it was only because he was too tired. He lowered his hand down by his side again, closing his fingers. Takemi came back into the room, phone being put away.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really. Just tired."

"Alright. I'll leave you be for now. Want this closed?"

"Mhm."

She closed the curtains on him again before she left. Akechi felt himself falling asleep, just letting himself do so.

~~~~~~~~

Their fight with Shido's shadow was the most difficult one yet, all of them struggling to keep up with him. They finally managed to beat him, all of them pretty tired by the end of it. 

From there, it was a mad dash to get out of his palace as it started collapsing suddenly, Ryuji making the jump to get them out of there.

They were all collapsed and panting, all of them worried about Ryuji. After a minute or two, Ryuji showed up, all of them hugging him in relief. 

Akira was on his way back with Futaba and Morgana, checking his phone as he got several messages at once. 

**Takemi: hey, your friend's here. Safe**

**Takemi: figured id text you because i wasnt able to call you all day**

Akira paused.

_ No… it couldn't be… _

**Who?**

**T: oh now you respond**

**T: The Detective Prince himself. Someone brought him to my clinic. You can come see him tmrw**

"Oh my god." Akira whispered.

"What? What is it?" Futaba asked, adjusted her glasses as she yawned.

"He's at Takemi's clinic."

"What?!" Morgana and Futaba yelled at once.

Akira runs right off the train as soon as the doors open, dashing to the clinic. Of course, it's dark, and the door's locked now, but Akira was itching to get inside. Futaba and Morgana catch up to him, looking at him. The three continue down towards the cafe, Futaba saying good night. Morgana settled down as soon as he got into bed. Akira couldn't sleep, he was excited.

_ Tomorrow. I'll get to see him tomorrow. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little shorter, but hey, things happening,


	14. Stubborn Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira checks in on Akechi.

Takemi closed the door behind her, leaning against it. Akechi had barely touched the food she brought him, poking at it with a fork. 

"Hey," She said, getting Akechi's attention. "I just want to let you know Akira is here to see you."

"And?"

"Alright, don't get snappy with me. Do you want to see him or not? I can tell him to come back later."

Akechi looked down, folding his hands in his lap. 

_ Do I want to see him? After all of that? He still wants to see me. Even tho- _

He felt a nudge inside him, something soft, interrupting his thoughts. That was one of them, at least. They didn't speak, but he could feel them level him with a pleading look.

_ Is that…? _

"Okay." He found himself saying out loud.

Takemi nodded, going back out in what he could assume was the waiting room. He could feel one presence inside him, but he was distracted as he heard Takemi's voice on the other side of the door.

"Now, don't do anything rash. He's still recovering a little." Takemi warned him as they made their way inside.

They just stared at each other for a moment, as if saying anything would reveal that none of this was real.

"Oh my god." Kurusu whispered. "You're alive."

Akechi stared at him blankly for another moment.

"Hi."

Kurusu was wringing his hands obsessively, and Akechi saw how awful he looked. The oversized hoodie was swallowing him, glasses quickly adjusted, even if they both knew they were fake.

"Are the others here as well?"

"No. Just me." He answered, even opening his bag to show the cat wasn't there.

He brought a chair over to sit beside him, Akechi stiffening a little. Kurusu opened his mouth several times in an attempt to say something, but ended up just crossing his arms over his chest and sighing.

"Tongue tied?"

"Mhm."

There was a beat of silence as none of them knew what to say after that.

"Why are you here, Kurusu?"

He looked exhausted.

"To see if it was really you. That you were alive."

"And what will your friends think?"

"I don't care what they think. I don't care what anyone thinks." 

There was that sharpness that Akechi only got little hints of in their earlier conversations. A sharpness he rather liked, almost as if that cafe boy facade was slipping away.

"And what will you do with me now?" He asked, because he has to. "I did betray you and your little group."

"And then you saved us, even if the way you did was dumb." Kurusu shot back. "I think that's punishment enough."

_ We both know that won't be enough for the rest of them. _

Instead of repeating that out loud, he snorted.

"Not like you thought any smarter, throwing yourself against a metal wall in an attempt at rescue."

Kurusu deeply sighed, putting his face in his hands.

"I know."

Akechi noticed Takemi left the room, in order to give them some privacy.

"How? We couldn't find you with Necro anymore."

Akechi turned his hand up, showing him the straw bits and twine. He recognized it, taking it from him.

"Someone found me outside the Diet Building, and brought me here. I don't know who, but clearly it wasn't you."

_ Otherwise, there isn't much I remember after going down. Just some horrible screeching noise. _

Kurusu seemed to consider that for a while.

"Are you able to be released? Because I think we should at least hang out again. Like old times."

"That's a Takemi question, but maybe." Akechi paused. "Are you worried that I won't be able to go back to my own apartment?"

"At least not until Shido's change in heart takes its effects."

_ Oh. So you did it. _

"...Is that even up to you?"

Kurusu clenched his fists, the steel hardening in his eyes.

"I don't care." He spat out. 

_ Do you realize what I've done to you, you idiot? Are you nuts? _

He felt another nudge again, though there was no look this time.

"Ask first. And then I will decide." 

"Okay."

Kurusu got up and left the room, not even saying goodbye to Takemi. Takemi walked back in, shaking her head.

"Sheesh, what's with him?" She muttered.

~~~~~~~~

_ "Akira, do you think this is a good idea?"  _ Arsene asked.

_ Look, I am going to ask. And I don't want to leave him alone, who knows what he'll do. _

The cafe was thankfully empty of customers as he stormed his way inside, Morgana picking up his head from the stool. Sojiro glanced up at him, preemptively taking out a cigarette.

"What is it this time?" 

"Akechi is alive," Akira started slowly. "And he needs somewhere to stay. I don't think he's safe to go back to his apartment until the election is over and Shido is voted out."

"And you want him to stay here?!" Morgana yelled at him. "After he tried to kill you three times now?!"

"Oh lord." Sojiro said, wincing from the sudden yowling from Morgana. "The cat's not too happy about it."

"And what do you think? Could he stay here?" 

Akira held his breath as Sojiro gave him a look.

"Hasn't he tried to kill you once? I don't trust the kid." Sojiro sighed as he looked at Akira's hardening expression. "You're going to do it anyway, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Akira!" Morgana yelled.

"Don't yell at me! Where else should he go? You think that they wouldn't take the opportunity to get rid of him too??" Akira snapped back.

It was silent, the two not sure what to do about Akira's anger. He clenched his fists by his side, his eyes narrowing, daring them.

"If he stays here, he is entirely  _ your  _ responsibility, Akira. I will not stop you, because clearly you don't care what's best for you right now, but I am washing my hands of him. Anything he needs is on you. Do I make myself clear?" Sojiro said, stern.

"Yes."

"Good." 

He excused himself to go smoke, leaving Akira and Morgana alone.

"You're insane." Morganna hissed.

Akira shrugged, turning on his heel and walking right back out the door. Akechi was his priority right now, as well as recovering. Arsene heaved a deep, weary sigh.

_ Don't you care? Don't you care that you get to see Robin again? _

_ "We have no idea if he's still there. I didn't see him."  _

It didn't take long for Akira to make the arrangements and help Akechi back to the cafe. Morgana didn't take his eyes off Akechi the whole time, the three moving upstairs.

"There's a bath house across the street if you need it," Akira started as he dug out extra blankets and tossed them on the couch. "You can borrow some of my clothes for now."

Akechi didn't say anything. Didn't even look at him. The night came soon afterwards, the two going to their separate sleeping arrangements. The dull ache in his chest still made sleeping uncomfortable, but he managed to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~

Akechi stood there, staring at the child kneeling in front of him. He knows it is himself, he remembers from the Palace in his heart. His child self refuses to look up at him, staring at the broken toy in between them. It looked strange, because he knows it's a featherman figure, it looked different somehow.

"You hurt him." The child whispered.

"It's just a toy." Akechi protested. "Just needs to be fixed."

"You hurt him!" The child snapped, glaring at him, eyes full of tears. "You hurt him!"

"You're so ridiculous, it's just a stupid t-" 

And he glances down to see blood, and a lot of it. The child reaches out and grabs the pieces, hands covered in blood, and runs away from him.

He woke up, feeling like all his limbs were heavy, not sure where he was. Didn't seem to matter, because Kursu was over him, staring. Soon, Akechi was marched downstairs, still not talking to Kurusu in the slightest. He watched Akira make curry, Sojiro nowhere to be found this morning. Morgana sat on a stool and glared at him the entire time.

"Please eat." Akira said, putting a plate of curry in front of him when he was done. "It's not spicy, I promise."

Akechi looked at him, and then the plate, slowly grabbing the spoon. He felt a little nudge inside of him, the way Robin usually did when he reminds him to eat. He stared at it more, guilt and hunger fighting over him. He pushed the plate away as guilt won, opening his mouth to excuse himself. Akira pushed it back before he could, saddened.

"It's okay to eat, I promise. Please eat." He pleaded.

Akechi blinked at him, taking a spoonful. He perked up at how good it was, starting to eat more. After the fifth bite, he hesitated, seeing Akira hold his breath out of the corner of his eye. He was waiting for Loki to deride him for eating too much, for having eyes bigger than his stomach. He waited, pushing the spoon slowly towards his mouth until it was right in front of his lips. Nothing. No reaction from him. 

_ Maybe he's tired. _

He ate it slowly, watching Akira sigh in relief, smiling. His heart fluttered, seeing Akira happy. It wasn't long until Akechi finished the whole plate. He dropped the spoon onto the cleaned plate, feeling full for the first time in a long time. He quickly wiped away some tears, sad all of a sudden.

"Are you okay?"

"I was just waiting for... uh... nevermind." 

"For what?"

"For... Loki to criticize my eating habits. Sorry to worry you I-"

"Loki was the one not letting you eat??" Akira growled.

Akechi shut his mouth and looked at his lap, tensing up.

"Ooh, I'm, I'm not mad at you, I-" Akira swallowed. "Sorry. I shouldn't yell at you."

"It's okay. I think you deserve to yell at me, of all people."

"It's not okay. Just surprised it was your persona who... it's fucked up that he did that to you."

"I... what?"

"Personas are supposed to help you take care of yourself. Arsene helps me a lot, why would-" Akira sighed in frustration, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry. Just, god, he was policing your eating. That's fucked up."

"Who cares? I'm not really loveable." Akechi muttered.

"I'll let you stay with me until Shido's change of heart takes effect."

"That isn't your decision, now is it? It's Sakura-san's."

"Just… think it over, okay? I need something upstairs, I'll be right back."

Akechi slumped back in the seat as he went out of sight. 

~~~~~~

Robin sighed and retreated into the back of his heart for now. Being silent was difficult, but he knew the second he said something Goro would be mad at him. Robin had a little hope, now that Joker was determined to help him no matter his protests, and got him to eat, but hope only went so far. He had been going on hope for so long, and he only ever had small things for Goro to hold out for. Now not only does he not have that, he couldn't be sure Joker could truly help him anymore. Their friendship wasn't enough to stop Goro from trying to kill Joker. 

_ Maybe I have become a burden on him. Maybe I am overbearing. _

It was a struggle to fight against those thoughts, but after several minutes he finally just accepted them. He couldn't keep up with Loki, and now is far behind where Loki was in terms of strength. And now he has no idea what Goro needs anymore. 

_ What is wrong with me? I encouraged him to try to finally kill himself and then I turn around and save his life.  _

To finally let him indulge those urges, only to turn around and prevent his death. He was disgusted with himself. At betraying his wishes. At how bad he let things get. 

_ If the others saw me, they would be disgusted too. _

Despite the very slim chance of being able to be with Arsene again, he just couldn't let himself do something so selfish again when Goro was like this. And yet, Goro still hasn't let him back into his heart fully yet. That ate at him more than anything else did.

Robin stayed silent, knowing the decision to keep him was up to Goro, not him. 

~~~~~~

Akira could feel Arsene flare up in anger. He said nothing, stewing in it for now. As soon as he got upstairs, Arsene exploded.

_ "Does he know how much Robin loved him?!"  _ He screamed, making Akira wince _. _

_ Ars- _

_ "Crow is the most important person in the world to him! And he just-" _

Arsene interrupted himself with a frustrated growl.

_ Arsene…? _

_ "Sorry." _

_ I came up here because I could tell you were angry. Are you okay? _

_ “...I’m worried. What if Robin Hood didn’t survive what Loki did to him, whatever it was? I didn’t see him in his eyes. Is he just hiding? What if we were too late?” _

Akira pondered that, going over what Loki’s taunts. 

_ Akechi is still here. I’m sure he wouldn’t… _

He wasn’t sure either. But he could just go down and ask Akechi directly. He walked back down, grabbing a change of clothes for Akechi so he didn’t have to explain what he was looking for up there. He didn’t offer him the clothes, not yet. He kept them in his lap, Morgana shifting from the stool to on the table. 

“Can I ask you something?”

Akechi simply shrugged, seeming to not care. 

“Do you still have both of your personas?”

Akechi seemed to tense, staring at him suspiciously.

“Why?”

“We were just wondering.”

Akechi shot him a glare. 

“Fine. Don’t answer. Have you at least considered joining us?”

“You think it’ll be that easy when Okumura is there among you? No. I won’t be joining you. As soon as this is done, I’m getting as far away from all of you as I can.”

Akira’s heart started sinking. Arsene was getting upset once more, Akira huffing and leaning back.

“Fine. Whatever, asshole.” Akira said, standing up and tossing the clothes at him. “Here. Figured you want to change at some point. There’s a bathhouse across the street if you want to wash up. Laundry’s there too.”

Akira went to the bathroom, slamming the door. He slid down it and onto the floor, grumbling. 

_ “Akira-” _

“Don’t. I already know.”

_ “You shouldn’t provoke him.” _

Akira huffed again, hitting his head against the door. 

_ He’s impossible. _

~~~~~

A bath did sound nice to him, waiting until night fell before he moved from the booth. He didn’t see Akira again, Akira having locked himself in the bathroom after their conversation. 

Slipping under the water at least let him focus a bit, trying to figure out what happened to his personas. 

He was pretty sure the one that gave him the nudges and look earlier was Robin Hood. There was no doubt in his mind there. He was silent again, but could Akechi blame him after Loki dealt out his punishment? He couldn’t let them see what happened after his Palace collapsed.

_ But where is Loki? _

He couldn’t feel him anymore. Power thrummed under his fingertips, but it was absent of Loki’s touch. He can’t remember what happened. 

He shot the emergency button, with a bit of Robin’s help, admittedly, since he was the one to point it out. He shot the puppet version of him. The shadows pounced on him. 

After that point, he was drawing a blank. He could recall snatches of sounds, banging, screeching, someone talking to him, but he’s not sure how it all fit together, how he was still alive. 

_ I wanted to die. It would’ve been painless in there. _

But then he wouldn’t have seen Kurusu’s harsher side, the side of him that was all sharp and harsh in his words. A side he admittedly adored, as if was a truer version of him.

_ Was it worth it? _

He sank deeper into the water.

Akechi was staring up at the ceiling as the three of them settled down to sleep. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep, the attic felt too public, almost. On top of the feeling of a lack of privacy, he could hear groans and tossing and turning from the crate bed.

“Hurt?” He asked.

Akira snorted, half annoyed, half tired. 

“They bruised my ribs.” He croaked.

Akechi did not have to ask to know who he was talking about. He winced a little. Sure, his cognitive twin looked roughed up, but he didn’t realize how badly he actually was. He simply closed his eyes, not sure how to wrestle with all this new information being thrown at him. 

_ In any case, I am stuck here until the election is over. _

~~~~~~~

Akira was pacing around Arsene’s room, Arsene sitting there and drumming his fingers along the arm of his chair as he watched.

“What is wrong with him?” Akira grumbled.

“Is that really the question to be asking now?”

“Arsene…”

Arsene shrugged, not bothered by his lackluster scolding attempt. He could tell Arsene was not really paying attention to what he was saying at the moment. 

“Lost in thought again?”

“...Thinking how much Robin risked back there for us. Considering he finds our methods a bit distasteful, he knew we wouldn’t just give up on stealing his user’s heart just because he asked. And Loki… he knew Crow wouldn’t dare reveal Loki and his true identity to us back there, hence why he stood in between us. But… Loki hated him, that much is apparent. Are they warring with each other for his heart right now? Is that why I couldn’t see Robin in his eyes?”

Akira stopped mid stride, straightening up. Arsene was worried, of course, but how could he not be? Robin Hood meant just as much to Arsene as Akechi means to him.

“I don’t know. I just want him to see we’re trying to be friends with him again. I just want him to know he isn’t alone anymore, that he doesn’t have to be. But god, he can be such a dick.”

“Akira…”

Akira sighed before walking over and climbing into Arsene’s lap. Arsene didn’t move, letting him settle down and put his head on his chest.

"I don't know if I'm getting through to him with my usual methods. So, I just lash out, like I used to. I don't mean to, but… is the person he was to me before even there anymore?"

“Time will tell, most likely. A lot of things happened to Crow at once. So let’s wait and see for now.”

“...fine. I don’t want to give up on him.” 

“Mmn, I know you don’t. Now get some rest, Akira. You need it.”

“Mmph. You’re almost as bad as Mona.” He softly whined.

Akira dozed off on top of him anyway, sleep coming a little easier in Arsene’s presence. 

~~~~~~~

Lots of things troubled Akira, that much he knew. Arsene felt his disappointment and frustration as Crow opted to stay in the attic while they went to Mementos. He stood a little ways off by himself while the group rested.

_ Is he hiding from us now? What is Crow so scared of? And Robin… _

"-sene." Kidd snapped him out of his thoughts.

He lifted his head up to see his friends staring at him in various states of concern.

"Not sure why you bothered, captain. Seems monsieur Lupin won't be joining us today." Milady joked lightly, a slight tone of concern in her voice. "In all seriousness, are you alright?"

"Crow is staying with you and Joker, is he not? How has that been? Anything?" Zorro asked.

Arsene shook his head.

"He seems to not want to cooperate today. I didn't see Loki in his eyes, but I didn't see Robin Hood either. Akira is a bit frustrated about it."

Arsene sighed, smoothing out his jacket. 

"You sound troubled yourself friend." Goemon stated, cutting Arsene off before he could respond. "You mentioned earlier that Loki seemed wrong to you. May I ask what that was about?"

Arsene flexed his wings before folding them back up, crossing his arms.

"I'm not quite sure, myself." Arsene admitted. "But looking at him… I could just tell something was wrong about him. Something so familiar and yet so deeply unsettling…"

"And if that argument him and Crow had was anything to go by, Hood had to stand up to him alone. Perhaps that was the source of the distortion in him. And I assume that's who the shadow was talking about earlier to that child in the treasure room." Goemon responded, humming thoughtfully. "Crow did not seem to care much for him."

"The Archer did not care much for us either during our fight." Johanna reminded them. "It seems he too has a distaste for our methods. He may be more reasonable, but we can't forget how he accused us of trying to kill Crow either."

_ I am still worried about him regardless. I don't know if he's okay. _

"I suppose we won't know unless Hood offers up those answers himself." Carmen said, glancing at Arsene.

"Another waitin' game." Kidd muttered, shaking his head. "My patience is runnin' thin o'er this kind of stuff."

The kids stretched, calling out to them to keep moving. They obeyed, going back to their masters' hearts. Arsene closed his eyes for a moment.

_ Just… please hold on, Robin. I'll save you, one way or another. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took some time.


	15. Into the Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They keep themselves busy while waiting for Election Day to roll around. Akira is unsure how to handle Akechi.

Arsene got more quiet and contemplative the more Akechi refused to respond or talk. Akira kept trying though, as the deadline they had for changing Shido's heart was coming up quickly. He wanted to get them back on speaking terms before he took off, because he was sure Akechi would at the first opportunity. Akira even crept through his blog to find the sweets he loved, buying them as offerings for him. Even then, he didn't eat much, or at all, a lot of the time. He brought up that concern to Arsene as well.

_"That's not surprising, Kira. Considering how difficult it was to get him to eat the curry."_ Arsene said, giving a slight concerned hum. _"And those mirrors in the Palace… He must've had a hard time as well..."_

_And since Loki was working against him..._

It deeply concerned him. He was having second thoughts on if Akechi would be okay alone.

"Hey, Akechi. Got you some chocolate cake, this time." He said, setting the two boxes down on the table.

Akechi had his back to him on the couch, lying on his side. Akira slipped downstairs for forks, coming back to see Akechi sitting up now. His face was still hidden by his hair, but at least he was up. Akira put a fork on top of his box, sitting across from him and opening his own.

"Why are you doing this?" Akechi asked quietly right as Akira shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth.

Akira swallowed.

"Because you're my friend… and my rival."

Akechi gingerly picked up the fork, inspecting it. He opened the box with just as much caution, poking at it with the fork. Akira hid a frown behind his hand, deciding to speak up.

“You really think I’d go all the way to get you a cake from a cafe you like just to poison it?”

“Can’t be too careful, you know.” He mumbled.

“I want you around.” Akira said without thinking.

Akechi snorted, but said nothing else. He took one bite of the cake before prodding at it a little more. Akira was both a little embarrassed he said that and relieved Akechi didn’t make a comment about it. It stayed quiet for a long time.

"Well. I'm going to make some curry." Akira broke the silence between them as he got up. "You can come with me to watch."

Akechi shook his head, closing the box on his half-eaten cake. Akira sighed before going down without him.

-

Arsene couldn’t stop thinking about this situation. Akira was just as obsessed over it, and that bled over into his own thoughts. 

_Part of his accusations of us were crossing a line. Throwing him away._

It implied Robin Hood _trusted_ them. The implication was damning. 

_We broke that trust by trying to steal his heart, didn’t we?_

Johanna was also right. Robin didn’t like their methods in the slightest. And they probably just made him double down on that. That would complicate any hopes they have of regaining his trust. 

_Hypocrite._

Arsene was disappointed in himself for thinking that of Robin, however briefly. Loki was most likely the one to suggest they do what they did. And Crow had decided their path. 

Arsene sighed, folding his wings over himself as Akira was busy making curry. All of that hinged on Robin still being there, after all. He is forced to wait and see. 

-

Akechi leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest after Kurusu left. The curry smelled good from where he was, but he couldn't bring himself to move. 

_Loki?_

Still nothing. Did he do something to make Loki ignore him?

_Robin?_

Robin moved, reaching out silently. It was a very brief touch, retreating afterwards, leaving Akechi alone. So, Loki was for sure ignoring him at the very least. 

_Great. Now what?_

He didn't know how he felt. He did ask Kurusu to promise to take his asshole of a father down. And yet, revenge was his reason for living anymore. He was still angry at the world, because it was still just as shitty as it was before. But he knew Kurusu would not leave him alone after what he pulled on that ship.

He felt almost as trapped as he was before. Part of him craved death. Part of him wanted to keep going.

_For what?_ He thought bitterly.

He felt a flash of panic at that thought before it got snuffed out. Maybe he was having second thoughts about dying. Since he was being watched like a hawk, all he could do now was wait.

-

"Haru, where are we going?" Akira asked as she dragged him out of the cafe.

"Nowhere dangerous. Milady wants to talk to you two."

_Huh?_

The world bent around them as Haru kept going, pulling him down a floor to talk. Akira spared a brief glance at Caroline as they passed her. Milady and Arsene leapt out of their hearts, Arsene practically hiding behind his wings as he sat down. He could feel Arsene wasn't too happy about this. Milady looked at them both.

"What do you think of Crow and the archer?" She asked.

_Right to the point._

"I want to help them. I know he's done wrong by Noir and Oracle, and countless others, but I think he needs someone there for him. As for Robin Hood… I don't know. Just that he looked scared when we were escaping his palace."

Milady nodded before turning to Arsene.

"So what do you think of the archer?"

"That he's a hypocrite." Arsene huffed.

"I know you don't mean that. You're in love with him. I know that for certain now. So what's wrong?"

Arsene sighed, looking like he really didn't want to discuss this right now.

"You don't want to hear it, madame."

"Monsieur, I am your friend. You have been very quiet and alone recently and it worries me. You are upset. I want to know what's bothering you."

Arsene glanced at Akira as if he could save him, Akira shrugging in response. Arsene sighed.

"Fine. You got me. I adore him. But now I can't help but feel the rest of you have given up on him. That we're abandoning him to a horrible fate."

"Lupin-"

"I know we aren't. Not on purpose. It's unfair to put blame on anyone when none of us knew. I know he didn't like our methods, but I can't ignore the implications that he _trusted_ us, at some point, before we tried to steal his heart."

"Ars-"

"I know all you have to go on is my word but he saw us as Crow's _friends,_ however briefly we worked with them. He said it was nice to see him making friends. I don't know if he meant me to hear that, but I did, and it kills me to think how long he was trying to hold out and hope we could help change Crow."

Milady crossed her arms as he continued.

"It truly feels as if that plan he got Crow to pull was one last desperate act of someone who completely gave up. I want to let him know he isn't alone. I want to save him. But I know we broke his trust. I don't even know if he survived all of that. He looked rough back there. But I can't ignore he stepped in front of us to protect us, to protect _Akira,_ from his own master."

Arsene inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly. 

"Done?"

Arsene nodded, slightly embarrassed. Milady put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's hard to not even know his fate. And I promise that none of us have given up on him. We just don't know him enough to give him the help he needs right now. Besides, there's nothing we can do besides forcing Crow down here to get him to come out. And we have no idea how badly Crow would react."

Arsene grumbled his agreement, Milady looking him in the eye.

"You need to talk to us too. Your feelings are just as important. We don't want you to isolate yourself when you need support the most."

Arsene sighed as a wave from Milady brought everyone else out. 

“Please. Tell us what the two of you talked about in the casino. Help us understand him better, Arsene.”

"Where do I start? You won't be able to understand any more than I do." 

"Try."

“I know we couldn’t trust them, but I thought maybe if I talked to him it would move something in them. He avoided me at first. I suppose he didn’t want to get friendly. But he started to warm up to me. He must’ve realized that it would be his only time with me. The more we talked the more it seemed even Robin Hood wanted their plan to fail. I caught him once arguing with Crow, but about what, I couldn’t hear. Just that he sounded upset.”

The others looked at each other, but stayed quiet. Akira grabbed his hand, wanting to be supportive.

“He asked me about what would I do if Akira were to start listening to another in our heart over me. What would I do if it tried to take over. I just told him it wasn’t going to happen and it wasn’t my decision in the end. That’s when he got a bit cold on me.” Arsene exhaled slowly. “I feel guilty about that still. He went out of his way to ask for help in the only way he could and I just snapped at him that there was nothing he could do about it.”

The edge of his wings touched the ground, humming sadly to himself and closing his eyes.

"Other than that, we mostly talked about little things. Like how much Akira was improving at chess. Idle chitchat as much as he was able to say. I'm sorry to keep that from all of you. I just had a feeling he would react badly if we all started talking to him."

Arsene took his hand back and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"We aren't mad at you, you know. You're just a bit of a lovesick fool." Carmen said.

Arsene looked away from their friends with a huff. Akira patted his leg in what he had hoped would come across as reassuring. 

"Now that that's out of the way, what do we do about Crow?" Ryuji asked.

"I don't know." Akira confessed. "He doesn't want to go anywhere. But we still don't know how far Shido's reach is either, so I can't really blame him for not wanting to be seen in public."

"That is true. We have no idea if they'd try to kill him as revenge." Makoto answered. "He did seem to have ties to the yakuza."

"Yeah, but we defeated him and the others, right? That would affect how they are in the real world, right?" Ann asked.

"Dunno." Futaba said. "We really wouldn't unless we could see them. Besides, I doubt anything would happen until after Shido's change of heart anyway."

"Dammit." Ryuji muttered.

As they discussed, he could feel Arsene retreat into his own thoughts again, not contributing. 

"Wait, did Crow say anything odd to you?" Haru turned to ask. "Since he's staying with you and all."

"The only thing he's said that's made me worry is that when he ate the first time he… he mentioned that he was waiting for Loki to criticize his eating." Akira answered.

"For real? That asshole." Ryuji growled.

"Then those mirrors we saw-" Zorro started.

"Robin was fighting a losing battle." Yusuke finished. "Considering how hard it was for all of us to take Loki down…"

"It seemed like he had given up at some point." Arsene said. 

"I could guess when." Johanna stated, clearing her throat. "It's clear that he thought Joker's relationship with Crow would change him for the better, and that hope died with Joker's cognition being shot."

"Yeah, he crashed and he crashed hard." Futaba added.

Akira hummed, adjusting his gloves. He just hoped that Akechi would be okay when the election is over. He glanced over at Necronomicon, who tilted to one side and flickered their lights, but said nothing. Akira was never good at interpreting Necro’s movements into their emotions. He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

"Besides, I still can't forget what his shadow told that smaller cognition in his Treasure Room. Insisting that he didn't want anything, that our leader didn't mean anything to him. When we know that Joker meant _something_ to him, so much to have such a powerful cognition in there." Morgana said.

"Perhaps it was simply a survival tactic." Milady concluded. "After seeing Loki and the state of his Palace, I have no doubt that Loki would've done some nasty things to the archer if he admitted he didn't agree with their plan or that he considered us friends."

Arsene shifted, and Akira could feel him recoil at the thought of Loki doing anything more to Robin Hood.

"Come on. We have some targets to take down anyway, while we're here." Akira said.

-

Other than the brief panic he had over Goro's thoughts, Robin kept to himself. 

_He always was like this_. He had to reason with himself.

And yet he still wanted him alive and safe. And the others… he didn't really know. He didn't want to know what they thought about him.

_And yet they betrayed me. Even him._

Robin Hood shifted, hunched over with closed eyes. He was alone. He couldn't trust anyone anymore. 

_It's not like they could bring themselves to care, right?_

He knows their intentions are good. But they've seen what their targets are like after they're done. They nearly killed him without a second thought. Despite how much Loki ragged on him for being overly forgiving, he couldn't find it in him to forgive them for it. He couldn't find it in him to even try to see their perspective. 

_I'm alone, and nothing will really change that._

Robin exhaled slowly, still tensed up. His priority was Goro, he reminded himself. Nothing else mattered. He'll just have to watch both their backs as usual.

-

"Hey, Ake-" Akira started as he climbed into the attic, pausing.

Akechi was gone. He left nothing behind. The only thing to indicate someone else was there was the tv softly repeating the election results into the dusty air.

"Oh."

He deflated, standing in place. Arsene said nothing, watching him carefully. He knew this would happen, and yet he couldn't stop himself from pulling out his phone. He started typing, a bit frantic.

**Akechi, please** **talk to me.**

He deleted that.

**Dont kill urself ple**

Akira deleted that before he could finish it. He hesitated on typing out something else. Everyone would be there soon. And he bet anything he sent would be ignored anyway.

**Stay safe**

Even that was too much, too desperate. He deleted that too. Akira threw his phone at the couch in frustration, watching it bounce off and clatter on the floor. He crossed the space to his own bed, lying down. Tears spilled over slowly. Staring at his ceiling.

"You're really gone." He mumbled.

He couldn't be like this though. His friends needed him to be strong. He sat up and wiped away his tears, grabbing his phone on the way down. There was another little crack in it, but who cared? Certainly not him.

"I can't believe this!" Ryuji shouted, banging his fist on the table.

Shido was still elected after his confession. They had failed to keep him from becoming Prime Minister. Akira couldn't stop his leg from bouncing. Talking about it made his nervous energy worse.

"I think there's only one solution. We have to steal the heart of the public itself." Morgana said. "It would mean the end of the Metaverse, but I think this would be our only hope."

They discussed a little more, saddened at the fact that would mean no more Morgana either.

"Let's do it." Akira said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akira is disappointed but not surprised Akechi left.


	16. Prison Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi takes in the state of his apartment. The Thieves sense something is off about the public.

Akechi was silent as he made his way back, quieting his footsteps as he walked up to his floor. He paused once he came to his apartment door, noticing it right away.

_ The door's been tampered with. _

He grabbed the handle, his suspicion confirmed as soon as it opened at his touch. His entire apartment had been tossed around, anything fragile he had left out had been shattered on the floor, and it was the same for every other room. Checking his phone just reminded him of several missed calls from Shido, as well as some of his goons.

_ Typical. _

Akechi closed the door and locked it, heading to his own room. He tossed his phone and briefcase onto his bed before grabbing his pajamas and heading to the shower. The damage was minimal here, not that he cared at this point. He made sure the shower was nearly boiling hot before he got into it, losing himself to his thoughts. He ran on autopilot to accomplish his routine. He tried to press lightly over his own bruises, barely registering how dark most of them were.

_ "I want you around". Yeah, right. He wants someone as horrible and broken as me? _

He stayed in the shower even as it became lukewarm, slowly sliding down into a sitting position. Shido was still elected after all.

_ I did everything right. I… _

He only got out when the water became cold, changing and collapsing into bed. He rolled onto his back and played his voicemail, listening through all the abuse and demands of Shido and his goons, Shido declaring him a useless liability in his last message. Akechi snorted, breaking into a giggling fit.

"I really am." 

It ended in a half-choked sob, Akechi pressing a hand over his mouth. Seems his breakdown wasn't quite over yet. He tossed his phone somewhere near his nightstand before squeezing his eyes shut.

-

"God, how deep does this place go?" Ryuji muttered.

Mementos was a lot bigger than they could have imagined. They managed to finally find a safe room. Futaba and Necro were off to one side, discussing something quietly. Futaba seemed concerned about something.

"Hey Mona, how far are we now, do you think?" Akira asked.

"Like, halfway maybe? It's hard to tell. The Treasure seems really close, but also far away." 

"Great." Ryuji muttered.

"I mean we did go through all of Mementos on our way here." Morgana pointed out.

"I think we should keep going. I think we'll get down to the Treasure in no time." Akira said.

"There's no turning back now anyway."

-

Akechi didn't know how much time had passed. He got up occasionally to eat or use the bathroom, but actually thinking of facing the world was too much. He's been fading in and out of sleep for a few days now, he figured. He's missed even more calls, but he doesn't really care. It didn't matter that much.

_ It'd be better if I disappeared. _

He sat up suddenly with the onset of the worst headache he's ever experienced. He got up to look for something to ease it, not getting far before he collapsed onto the floor. 

"What the hell?" He groaned.

Akechi looked up to see his hand disappearing, frozen in fear. 

"Oh god oh god oh-"

And his vision turned black for several minutes.

-

Akira figured that was everyone, circling back to the center of the Velvet Room. Lavenza took one look at everyone gathered, frowning.

"Aren't you missing someone?" Lavenza asked him.

Akira's eyes widened.

_ No. He couldn't be… _

Akira turned on his heel and ran down the hallways until he found a cell he overlooked.

"How nice of you to visit me." The voice huffed at him.

Akechi was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead.

"You're okay! Thank God." Akira breathed. "How are you feeling?"

"Why do you care?" 

"Because you're my friend."

"After everything I've done to you? God, you've really lost your fucking mind."

"Can't you just be actually nice for once?"

"O great hero, savior of my heart and one who made me confess my crimes!" Akechi said dryly. "That's what you want me to say, right?"

"Do you even have a sense of justice anymore?"

"I thought I told you to keep that shit to yourself."

"You did. But you seem like someone who wanted to change the world so no one would end up like you."

Akechi's eyes widened before he turned his face away. 

"You're very observant and it makes me nervous." Akechi admitted, standing up. "I don't see why you still believe in me, Joker."

"I want to give you a second chance. For real, this time, and not by trying to steal your heart."

Akechi laughed, something harsh and ugly but genuine.

"You are so stupid for this, you know. Sure. Let's see how this plays out."

Akira watched as the prince outfit fades into being, the door disappearing. Akechi stumbled out of his cell, Akira catching him. The outfit was ripped up, black and blue showing through claw marks.

"Something doesn't feel right." He whispered, clutching at his heart.

Arsene freed himself, hovering worriedly over the two. Akira supported Akechi as they make their way back to the center, all eyes on them. 

-

A white haired girl stared at them as they got to the center room. The girl's eyes widened, running right over to Akechi.

"This isn't good. Wildcard, call your persona."

"Here?!"

"This is urgent."

Akechi ripped the mask off his face, and all of them watch Robin Hood appear. He immediately collapsed onto his knees, his body horribly torn up and looking dull.

"What did you do to him?!" Arsene snarled.

Akechi paled, starting to shake. They knew now. He pulled himself away from Akira, stumbling over to the injured persona. Robin flinched, Akechi freezing.

"Robin Hood?"

They heard a few shuddering breaths, but nothing more. He refused to even look at him.

"Robin. Talk to me."

"Last time we talked, you said that you'd prefer me to be silent. I am honoring that request." He stated.

There was no emotion in the archer's voice except complete and utter exhaustion. Robin heaved another pained breath, seeming to struggle with it. Guilt washed over him, realizing the extent of what he had done, that they could all see.

"Are you able to move?"

Robin bowed his head.

"It hurts too much to try. And… ah." He pressed his hands on the floor, before mumbling: "The worst part is that I am telling you this. How embarrassing it is for you, that the others see how weak I am."

Akechi could feel him closing himself off again. He looked him over, trying to figure out the best way to fix this.

"Your injures can't be taken that lightly… and I was the one who let Loki do this to you."

Robin shook his head.

"Not this time. Have to hand it to the parasite, he's still feisty even near death."

Parasite. It's what Robin called Loki in their first week or so of knowing him. Akechi didn't heed his warning.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I should've listened to you. "

"I wish I could believe you." 

"Robin?"

"I never stopped fighting for you, when he started shutting me out. It got harder when you started shutting me out too. And then I couldn't take care of you anymore, you didn't want me to. I thought maybe if you had a friend, you'd see how much he was making you hate yourself. Maybe you would be happy. Seems I wasn't able to do that successfully either." 

Robin inhaled sharply, shuddering. Akechi reached out and touched his shoulder, panicking. 

"So what happened to Loki?" Ryuji asked.

The way Robin hesitated, Akechi figured it out.

"You killed him." He stated.

And it came back to him. The hunched over shape, the screech of metal as it was forced through metal. The intense gold stare before he got picked up. Robin saying something to him that he couldn't hear.

"He was never going to let you get better!" Robin snapped, before dropping into a whisper. "He wasn't… I had to do something…"

_ My fault.  _ Akechi thought.  _ This was my fault. _

"I let him do this." Akechi could feel a sting in his eyes. "And I... I did this to you. What can I do to make this up to you? How can I fix this?"

It was quiet, Robin slowly turning his head to the side away from him.

"Robin, please. Tell me how I can fix this."

"I look at you and I don't recognize who you are anymore... I lost you... It got to the point where my only battle I could choose was making you eat something every day, and I often lost that too. I should just let go of you. Clearly I'm no longer useful to you."

"Despair. He's despairing." Necronomicon and Futaba said at once.

Once again, his child self was screaming at him. You hurt him, you hurt him, you hurt him. He turned to run away, only to find Arsene looming over him, angry.

"Crow, don't you dare turn away from him now." Arsene hissed. "You're the most important thing in the world to him. Everything else is second."

Akechi swallowed, turning back around. He walked over, putting his head on Robin's shoulder and closing his eyes. 

"I'm sorry. You were always there for me, and I hurt you badly, I know I have. Just share with me, and I will do my best to make it up to you." He whispered so the others couldn't hear him.

He was flooded with all of the emotions Robin had hidden from him. The fear, the feeling of being isolated and abandoned, the small spark of hope and love and happiness before being crushed by utter hopelessness, the anger, all of the pain Loki had caused him, loneliness, desperation, despair. 

It was almost too much. Deep down, he knows these are his own feelings he's shoved aside for his revenge. The ones he put on Robin for him to bear alone. Akechi clung onto him, repeatedly apologizing over and over again. He felt fingers gently lifting his face, a thumb gently wiping away his tears. Gold eyes held his stare, full of sadness.

"I'm a monster... I know." He spoke quietly.

"You have been one, yes."

Robin kept his voice the same as his, making sure it was private.

"And you still saved me."

"Because I love you, very much."

"I can't exactly be forgiven by anyone. Especially them. Especially you."

"You can still change yourself. Try to be better. I know you can." 

"I will. I'm going to make myself better. As long as you're there to guide me."

Robin guided his face to his own, nuzzling him.

"I art thou, thou art I." He murmurs, glowing as Akechi repeated it back. 

Robin disappeared, Akechi inhaling slowly as the outfit fixed itself. He was swaying a bit, Akira rushing over to help support him. Akechi pushed him away, steadying himself. It felt odd the way he sat in his heart, but he figured that was because of his injuries.

"He's tired. We'll both be okay in a little bit." Akechi mumbled.

_ "Do we have to stay with them?"  _ Robin asked, his tone harsh.

_ We don't have a choice. I don't know where we are. _

Akechi could feel his disgust and distrust towards the Thieves radiating off of him. How ironic, that Robin nearly died for them and now he openly detested them. 

"What now? And where's Morgana?" Ann asked Igor and Lavenza.

Morgana reappeared, and they talked out the next steps. Igor and Lavenza helped explain everything to them, including how if Akechi won, the world would've just been destroyed and remade.

"We have to get back to the bottom again, and fight that Grail again." Akira said.

-

Arsene's heart ached as he looked over at Robin Hood. Robin refused to look at him the first time he approached, and has been avoiding and ignoring him ever since they got out of the Velvet Room. Otherwise he was staring at them all with murderous intent.

"The hell's up with Hood?" Kidd hissed.

Though Crow was cooperating, Robin Hood would glare at them every time they came near, protectively hovering around Crow. Robin was silent, staring them down, not letting them approach them at all when they were resting.

"Kidd, don't do anything rash." Arsene murmured.

"He won't even let Joker get near! Ain't ye worried that Hood's gonna lash out at 'im and hurt you two?"

"Well…" 

That hesitation was all Kidd needed. He turned and moved right towards Robin Hood. Arsene cursed and went after him, pulling Carmen with him. They stopped a few feet away as Kidd got right up in his face. Crow stiffened, taking a few steps back as Robin stepped protectively in front of him.

"Kidd do-"

"The hell's your problem? We helped you and you went on and on about being happy with us and now you won't even give us the time of day! You hypocrite!"

"Oh, so I'm the hypocrite here?" Robin snarled, moving so Kidd kept moving backwards. "And you didn't help me, I helped myself! You didn't care then, so why would you care now? Tch, figures you wouldn't get it… consider this your one and only warning."

Robin grabbed Crow's hand and moved them far away. Kidd started to head towards him again, Arsene matching his pace and hoping to get there first.

"Robin, wait!" Arsene called after him.

"Stop." Necronomicon growled at them, making them freeze. "You're making it worse."

Necro blocked their path to Robin, brighter than usual. 

"Move, Necro." Kidd huffed.

"No. He wants to be left alone, so leave him alone."

"Why are you protecting 'im?!"

"I'm protecting  _ you _ , idiot." Necro snapped. "He has every right to be angry at us."

Kidd dodged around them to try and close the gap between him and Robin Hood. He yelped as he gets shot with an arrow, Robin nocking another on his bow, aiming at him. Kidd gave up, backing away to where Arsene was, Necro humming a smug note.

"I said don't do anything reckless, Kidd." Arsene scolded.

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, going back to Skull.

_ Great. Now he  _ definitely  _ won't trust us. _

He could see Robin release his hold on the arrow before checking on Crow. This wasn't good for making peace with him. It was better to leave him alone. He hoped that maybe just giving him space would at least get Robin to start trusting them again. He wanted to apologize, but he knew that doing it now would make things worse. He debated it, Akira butting in.

_ "Arsene, please. You'll just drive him away more."  _ Akira said.

_ I know. If only Crow would get him to calm down. _

But Crow didn't really trust them either. He just barely started trusting Akira with food. He probably just needed some time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akechis wish sorta came true for a moment


	17. To Start Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin Hood and Goro finally have a more proper and private talk with each other.

Robin was furious they didn't respect he needed space, furious Kidd accused him of hypocrisy, furious they refused to let him be for the time being. It wasn't like he wasn't cooperating at all. Since Goro was lending his strength to help them, he had no choice but to follow.

And yet, at the same time, he felt sick. Almost like energy was slowly draining from him. Still worried Goro was going to let go of him at any moment, despite what he said earlier. 

Was it a result of his anger? His depressing train of thoughts he couldn't shake free of? He wasn't sure. Everything seemed to blur together ever since he forcibly removed Loki. Clear thoughts were becoming hard to keep track of. 

_ I just need to be useful to Goro, that's all. The others be damned. _

And yet he was aware Goro didn't feel any guilt for his actions. Just that others saw what he's done. He wants to trust that Goro wants to change, but he can’t find it in him to trust him. He was annoyed at Goro over that too. But if he could just stay long enough to get through to him, he had a chance now that Loki was out of the picture.

-

Akechi had never seen Robin Hood like this. Angry, sure. Angry at the unjust society that hurt them, angry at the people in power who exploit others without anyone stopping them. But never angry at the others like this. He liked them, as much as he could tell from Robin's earlier arguments for not going through with the plan to kill Akira. He seemed to snap over the smallest irritation, becoming very impatient. Maybe becoming a Palace changed something in him permanently. Maybe he and Loki hurt Robin more than he realized. He gave him a little time from his earlier outburst before checking on him.

_ Are you okay? _

Robin slowly blinked at him, his feelings flicking from anger to hurt to fear to guilt to conflicted before withdrawing again to blank.

_ "I should apologize to the captain, shouldn't I?"  _ Robin asked slowly.

_ That would be wise, yes. _

Guilt weighed his shoulders down as he went off to apologize to Kidd before coming back quickly. 

_ Did he forgive you? _

_ "Why should he? He doesn't have to." _

Akechi glanced over to Ryuji and Kidd, both muttering before Kidd glanced over and gave them a confused look.

_ It's fine. It'll be fine. _

Robin sighed, looking away.

_ "If you say so." _

Arsene seemed a bit relieved as far as Akechi could tell. Progressing through Mementos was a little tense with the others, the shadows getting more difficult. Akira decided to negotiate with this particular shadow, probably deciding it was beneficial in some way.

"Let's make a deal, then." Akira said.

"No, I don't want a deal with you. I want a deal with him." The shadow looked at Akechi expectantly.

Akechi felt Robin get extremely anxious, giving him a headache. 

_ Will you stop? _

But that just made Robin more anxious. He gripped his bow tighter.

"No."

Akira tried to renegotiate and convince it to become his, but it was stubborn. They simply killed the shadow, not knowing what else to do. 

"Congrats, Arsene, I think we found someone more anxious than you." He heard Carmen mutter under her breath.

Akechi glanced back over to Robin, relieved now that the shadow was gone. There was still a nagging feeling of not quite fitting together right, just slightly out of place enough to bother him.

-

Kidd didn't respond to Robin's apology, but Arsene was glad he seemed to have calmed down. He could still tell Robin was very anxious and upset, but he knew that it would mostly be him and Akira with the patience to even deal with it. Crow didn't even seem fazed or surprised by Robin's outburst earlier.

"I ain't gonna forgive 'im yet. But he ain't ever expectin' me to, so whatever." Kidd muttered, before turning to him. "Looked like Hood meant it, but who knows. Certainly ain't me."

Arsene couldn't offer much but a shrug.

"There's a lot that went on with them that we don't know." Arsene said. "Probably just needs time to sort it out."

Kidd shrugged, not really caring either way. Arsene watched Robin from afar, but if Robin even noticed, he was doing his best to ignore Arsene. Necro seemed to mutter in concern as they looked over to Robin every so often.

"Something wrong, Necro?"

"Getting some odd readings from the Archer, but it's nothing too serious. I don't think he'll become a Palace again anytime soon." 

Arsene hummed in thought before they all moved on, finding another safe room. Arsene stole another glance, seeing Robin somewhat unsteady on his feet as they moved towards the center. Necro jolted, letting out a little beep in alarm.

"Wait, Archer-" Necronomicon started.

Robin Hood collapsed a second time with a grunt, everyone jumping back in surprise. Akechi went over to him, in shock.

"Robin, get up. Please."

Nothing. He shook him, getting no response. 

"You're still so detached from each other, but given Master Thief is the same way I don't understand..." Necro muttered.

"...Can one of you put me to sleep? I think I know how to fix this, but..."

Arsene glanced at Akira, getting a nod. Arsene hit him with a needle, Akechi falling to the floor. Akira moved to catch him, sitting on the floor with him. He was holding Akechi in his lap so he wasn't on the floor.

-

Akechi found himself in the lodge, still just as empty as earlier. He ran to the door and yanked it open, opening it to the cool dark night and rain.

"Robin? Where are you?" 

He looked around, venturing out when he head rustling in the woods around the lodge. He saw Robin's shape, propped against a tree, breathing shallow. Akechi tugged his arm, helping him as best as he could back inside and in front of the fireplace. He ran around after putting a blanket on his shoulders, finding matches and coming back around. He fumbled striking the match a few times before it lit up, throwing it into the fireplace to start the fire. Robin stirred after a few minutes, opening his eyes.

"You scared me, Robin." 

The persona looked around at the lodge.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Akechi looked around as well, seeing how bad it still was. Akechi turned back to Robin Hood.

"What the hell's going on? I thought we fixed this."

Robin sighed, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. He reached out towards his face but stopped, dropping his hand.

"You've apologized and I've forgiven you, yes. But all that did was allow me to come close to here again. I still was locked out."

"Locked...?"

Robin tried to get up and winced, sitting back down. Akechi took a step towards him, not sure what to do. 

"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to protect you from him. It got harder and harder to keep up with him. I just want to make you happy, now, but..."

"You don't know how...?"

"I don't know where to start with you. You've gone so far off the right path I don't know how to advise you back onto it."

Akechi frowned.

"It was for justice. To kill Shido." Akechi snarled.

"Was it just? Was it worth all the pain you've caused others?"

Akechi opened his mouth to argue.

"What did Wakaba do? How about the others that weren't corrupt and causing mass suffering to others? What did they do to deserve what you did to them?"

The anger in his voice shut Akechi right up. Because he knew the answer. The one he's pretended wasn't right, the one he's ignored all this time. But no, he wasn't going to let it win now.

"You and I both know how Palaces are formed! They-"

"Most of them we found down here. And you know it." Robin interrupted, before he suddenly balled up and made himself smaller.

Akechi blinked, taking a step back. He scowled at Robin Hood.

"So what?"

"You put Noir and Oracle through the same pain you did without a second thought. That wasn't just."

"Well, I can't take it back now!"

"You could at least attempt to make amends. But, knowing you, that won't happen. You won't apologize honestly, not even to me."

It was quiet for a moment. 

"You don't trust me."

"No. How can I? You don't trust me either." 

Akechi blinked in surprise, taking a step back at the statement.

"What? Is that what's causing this? You can't be…"

He stopped, realizing what he was saying. He knows Robin couldn't lie to him. Robin sighed deeply.

"I can't take you at your word. Besides, I don't think you need me anymore. I know I am not as strong as I once was, and I know you know that too. I know it's your decision to have others instead of me, and I have no say. I'm... scared you'll shut me out again. I don't think I'd survive that again." 

Akechi pondered it, looking around the room again. Thought about all the times Robin has tried to fight against Loki, has tried to make sure he was taking care of himself. How Robin used to be very physically affectionate but now he was scared of touching him.

"So why the silence?"

Robin looked guilty, leaning back a little.

"For the first time in... a while... you let me have freedom in that casino. I know it was just for the plan, but I... came to enjoy Arsene's company in secret. I didn't say anything about Loki or the plan, just wanted a chance to be happy again, even if it was only a lie on his part. I... I know it was selfish, but I didn't want to lose him. But you weren't going to change, not with Loki around, and I lost hope after their death. I couldn't tell you because he would just use it against me. I couldn't show any weakness. And I thought maybe if you saw how bad it was... I. I just wanted you back."

Akechi bit his lip, looking down. Robin looked so fragile for a moment, it was a wonder he could keep going.

"I couldn't get through to you because you trusted him. And you stopped caring about yourself because of him. You started hating me, and I figured it was just easier to let you take it out on me than anyone else. I was only endangering you further as I fell behind him in strength."

"Robin, it's not your-"

"I know. And yet, all I did was indulge my own selfish desires. But what else could I do? Once you started taking his side over mine, I didn't want to admit you were never coming back. My little prince... I'm sorry for failing you."

It was finally starting to get warm again, and Akechi realized just how much he hated seeing the lodge be cold and empty. 

_ Somehow, you still want me. You still want to stay after everything. _

Robin coughed a bit before turning towards the fire. He started poking at it, intending to make the fire bigger. There was an air of anxiousness about him that made Akechi uncomfortable with the silence.

"Why aren't you angry at me? Yell at me already, get it over with! It's me that you're having all these problems with!"

"There's no point in doing that. It would only make you defensive and drive you away more. And they have upset me in a different way. Their actions were not your fault."

"I can't believe you. I'm such an asshole, and you still want to be around me?"

"Suppose that's just my biggest fault. But, it's fine. It still isn't my decision in the end to stick around."

"How can you be so calm right now?" 

Akechi saw him tense up.

_ He isn't. He's just acting. _

Akechi sat down, leaning his back against the chair with a sigh. It was much easier to think everything through without Loki's nitpicky presence. He scooted a bit closer, Robin still tense and looking at the fire instead of him. 

"You shouldn't be sorry, I should. All I did was hurt you, again and again. Nothing I do will completely make it up to you. I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, it never was your fault. I won't let it happen again."

Robin didn't move or say anything. Akechi got up and got closer, and seeing how he didn't react, moved until he was right next to him. Robin looked at him, unsure. Akechi hugged him, trying to make it sincere.

"I know you can't take me at my word. I know. But I do need you. You still cared about me when all I ever was was being nasty to you. I'm sorry. I want to make it up to you, no matter what it takes. But I know I've hurt you, and you don't have to forgive me, ever. I want to try. I want to try and earn your trust again. I mean it."

Robin didn't respond, staring at the fire.

"You can have anything you want, too. Robin. Please."

"You can't promise me that." He said gently.

Akechi squeezed tighter, hoping the message got across. 

"I'm sorry."

"Are you?"

Akechi put more of his weight on him.

"I promise. I just need some time to figure out how to apologize to those two. I know it won't be enough, no matter what. Neither of them will forgive me, and I have no reason to expect them to. I know that much."

Robin sighed quietly. He felt Robin move under him, being lifted up into a hug. 

"I've missed this you, Goro." 

"Let's start over. Just you and me, okay? I'll do my best to earn your trust back first."

Robin hummed, slowly letting go and putting him down. 

"This place is a mess." Robin muttered. "But cleaning can wait until I'm a little better."

"Let's wake up. They're waiting for us."

-

Akechi stirred, Akira straightening up. The two of them started getting up. Akechi blinked at him, jerking back in embarrassment. 

"Was that necessary in the slightest?" Akechi huffed.

"I didn't think you'd be comfortable on the floor." Akira muttered.

"You didn't have to make it weird." 

Robin stood up, silently helping Akechi to his feet. Akira heard him mutter a thank you to his persona before brushing himself off. Robin glanced at him before they started making for the stairs. Akira sighed and followed them. Ryuji grabbed his arm for a second.

"Are you sure about this?"

"We need all the help we can get."

"I'm worried about you, is all. Just be careful."

"I will."

Ryuji sighed and let go, frowning. He shot a glare at Akechi's back before they all made their way over to Akechi.

_ "Akira, neither of them seem to be very stable moodwise. I'd take being careful to heart." _

_ I know. I will. You be careful too. _

“Wait, let’s rest for a bit. Just to make sure you’re both okay.”

“Sure.” Akechi said as he adjusted his gloves.

They moved back to the benches, quiet as they made themselves comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was wrestling with this beast of a chapter and a block for a while, so thanks for being patient q_q . Hopefully I will start to update this one faster but we'll see.


End file.
